Next Generation Mermaid 2
by Asuki Star
Summary: The sequel of Next Generation Mermaid. Emily, Amber and Sarah move to the Gold Coast, but soon strange things start to happen. What is going on and can they keep their mermaid halves a secret? I'm bad at summarys. Story is better. Please R&R.
1. Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own H2O. It's still an awesome show though.**

**A/N: This is the sequel to Next Generation Mermaid. It is recommended that you should first read Next Generation Mermaid to understand what is doing on. It still centers around Emily, Amber and Sarah with Emma, Rikki and Cleo still in minor roles. I'm sorry it took so long to upload. I hope however that you still enjoy it. Here's chapter 1 of Next Generation Mermaid 2.  
**

Chapter 1: Beginning

Amber Bennett looked around her room. Her windows were completely sealed, not letting any light or air in and she had her sleeping bag, that she would soon seclude herself in. "Perfect," the blond smiled. Everything was ready for the full moon tonight.

"Amber, can I come in?" her father, Zane Bennett, asked. "Crap," Amber cursed, silently and replied, "Just a minute. I'm not dressed, dad." Quickly she pulled her bathrobe over and opened the door only a crack so her dad couldn't see anything. "I'm leaving for a business trip now. I'll see you in a week," he told her. "Okay. Have fun. Bye," Amber replied, quickly and closed the door again. "Don't forget to pack all your things. You haven't packed anything, even though we're moving soon," her dad said through the closed door. "I will tomorrow," Amber assured him and she heard her dad leave.

With a sigh of relief, she went on her bed. She had decided to not tell her dad her secret. Amber grabbed her water bottle and opened it. Unfortunately it exploded and she got wet. Before Amber could do anything, she dropped to the ground with a thump. "Great," Amber muttered, annoyed, looking at her bronze tail fin. It hadn't been two months since she and her friends, Emily and Sarah had turned into mermaids. Since then their lives had been turned upside down. Finding out that their mothers had also been mermaids, facing a crazy girl that wanted revenge on them. Now her life was normal. As normal as being a mermaid could get. Amber had decided that it was best not to tell her father. It would cause unnecessary trouble.

"Everything alright, Amber?" her mother, Rikki Bennett asked, coming in and when she saw her daughter, she smiled. "Don't say a word," Amber threatened her. "Okay. I just came to say that the moon rises in a hour," Rikki replied with a smirk. Amber rolled her eyes and balled her fist, drying herself. Soon she stood again. "Then I should lock myself up now," Amber said, "Make sure that nothing happens." "I'll try," Rikki replied and left again.

Amber sat down on her bed. Her mind wondered back to her dad. Although it didn't bother her too much that she was lying to him, she still didn't like it. How had her mother ever been able to lie to her dad? Since Amber's grandpa was the only family her mother had had as a teenager, it must have been really hard for her, but Amber wouldn't dare ask her mother about it. Not to mention that Rikki probably wouldn't admit that she had had trouble with lying to her dad.

Amber flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. What were Emily and Sarah doing right now?

* * *

"Can't believe we're moving to the Gold Coast soon," Emily's brother, James said as he and Emily stood in his room, looking at all the boxes. "You'll love it," Emily replied, "It's really beautiful there." "But I'm still not sure why we're moving," James told her. "Mom met her old friends from a long time ago and wants to live where she grew up, I guess," Emily answered, but thought, "Because your sister is a mermaid, like our mother once was, and they believe we shouldn't be apart. They think it's risky just being apart during this full moon. That reminds me. I should get going." "I'll go finish packing my stuff," Emily lied. "But didn't you already finish?" James questioned. "Just a few small things," Emily answered and left. James shook his head. His sister had been weird ever since she returned from camp.

Walking past the living room, her father, Ash, asked, "Could you bring me a glass of water with ice cubes, Emily?" "Sure," Emily answered and walked into the kitchen. She took a glass from a cupboard and went to the sink. Emily turned on the water and filled the glass. "I can't believe we're moving to the Gold Coast. It'll be a bit annoying that I have to go to a new school, new home and such, but I'm glad too. Then I finally get to see Amber and Sarah again. Even though we talk on the phone every day, it's not the same as it was in camp. It's as though a piece of me is missing," Emily thought.

Suddenly she felt water run down her hand, causing her to come back to reality. The water was running over the edge of the glass onto her hand. Emily quickly dropped the glass in the sink and grabbed a towel, drying her hand. "8,9,10," she counted, silently and gave a sigh of relief when she didn't transform. "Everything alright, Emily?" her father asked from the living room. "Yeah," Emily answered as she dried the glass with the towel. After she had filled the glass again, she opened the freezer. There she saw that the plate with dents that is used for making ice cubes was empty. Emily sighed and took it out. It must have been James. Although he was very organized, he sometimes forgot stuff like this. After she had filled it with water, Emily looked around to make sure nobody was looking. Then she put her hand out like a stop sign over the tray and used her power. A second later the water was frozen. Smiling she put some ice cubes into her father's glass and the rest back into the freezer.

Then she walked into the living room and handed her dad his drink. "Thanks Emily," he said. "You're welcome," she replied and headed towards the door. "Wait, Emily. Is everything alright with you?" Ash asked, looking at her. Slowly Emily turned back around. Although her family had decided to always tell each other the truth, she couldn't. "Everything's fine," she assured him and quickly left. Ash looked after his daughter. Something was strange about his daughter, but he couldn't place what it was. Ash shrugged. It was probably a girl thing. Emma would know what to do.

In her room, Emily sat down on her bed and sighed. She hated lying to her family, but it was for the best. Although she knew that her dad had known of her mother's mermaid side, she knew he would not take it the same way, since she was his daughter. Dads were always protective of their daughters. That's why Emily and her mother had decided that they would only tell half of the truth. That Emma had met her old friends and that they had made up. They didn't mention anything about their daughters also being mermaids.

Just then Emma came in. "What's wrong, Emily?" she asked, seeing her daughter's down face. "Mom, how were you ever able to lie to your family the whole time?" Emily questioned. "It wasn't easy. I caused a lot of problems for them that I couldn't explain, because I was a mermaid. They took it pretty well though," Emma answered. "Why didn't you ever tell them?" Emily asked, interested. "Good question. I presume like you, I was scared. What would they think? Would they would accept me?" Emma replied. "Should I tell dad and James?" Emily questioned, unsure. "I can't help you with that decision. That's up to you," her mother answered and got up, "Will you be alright tonight?" Emily looked around her room. It was full of boxes with all her stuff inside. Not many things were still in her room. Because of the full moon her room was sealed air tight. "I think I'll be fine," Emily smiled and her mother left, saying, "I'll make sure your father doesn't come in later. Good luck." Emily wasn't sure if what she said was the truth, but she didn't want to worry her mother. "I wonder how Amber and Sarah are doing?" Emily wondered.

* * *

"I think that's all," Sarah said as she taped the last part of her window shut, "Thanks for the help mom." "It's nothing. I know what's like to be moon struck. Not such a fun experience," Cleo replied, a bit embarrassed. "The whole siren thing?" Sarah questioned and her mother nodded. The mothers had told their daughters many of their adventures. "Before you lock yourself in will you help me with the dishes?" Cleo asked. "Sure," Sarah replied and looked around her room one last time. Boxes stood everywhere and every crack was covered so no moon light or any light got in for that matter.

In the kitchen Cleo cleaned the dishes and placed them in a rack. Sarah carefully moved her hand and a wind picked up, blowing the dishes dry. Cleo and Sarah had found out that Sarah could use her power that way. She was glad that she didn't have to hide what she was to her family. Sarah couldn't imagine how hard it was for Amber and Emily. "Sarah!" Cleo exclaimed, snapping the brunette back to reality, just in time to reduce her power so that the dishes didn't fly to the ground.

"Sorry," Sarah said, meekly. "What are you think about?" Cleo asked as they put the dishes away. "How were any of you ever able to keep this a secret?" Sarah questioned. "Sometimes I wonder that myself. It's hard, but not impossible," Cleo answered. "I'm just glad I don't have to," Sarah replied. "You can always call me for help and when we move to the Gold Coast you can also ask Emma and Rikki," her mother told her, but Sarah gave her a doubtful look, "Okay, maybe not Rikki, but Emma and me." Sarah giggled. "Okay. You should lock yourself up now. I'll make sure you're okay," Cleo said and Sarah nodded.

After she had returned to her room, Sarah picked up her cell phone and wanted to call Amber and Emily when her phone rang. It was Emily. "Hi Emily," Sarah answered her phone. "Hi Sarah. You ready for the full moon?" Emily asked. "As ready as I'll ever be," Sarah replied. "Wait, I'll conference Amber in," Emily told her and soon Amber said, "Hi Emily, Sarah." "Hi," the others replied.

"How far are you with packing, Sarah?" Amber asked. "Almost done," Sarah answered. "You not going to ask how far I am?" Emily questioned. "Let me guess. You were done a week ago," Amber guessed. "Maybe," Emily muttered and the girls laughed. Amber had hit the bulls eye. "Then let me guess too. You aren't half way done, Amber," Emily retorted. "That's right," Amber confirmed and the girls laughed again. "I can't wait to see Ryan again," Sarah said. "You live closer to them than any of us," Amber pointed out. "I have been very busy, because of the move," Sarah explained. "True, well, anyway, I can't wait to see Jordan again either," Amber agreed.

Emily stayed silent. "What's wrong, Emily?" Sarah asked, concerned. "It's nothing," she replied. "Come on. Tell us," Amber urged her. "Well, Daniel hasn't called me once during the time we were apart," Emily told them. "He must be busy with college stuff. His classes did start," Sarah assured her. "He's too busy to write a sms?" Emily questioned, doubtfully. "Maybe," Amber answered. "Don't worry, Emily. Daniel loves you, nothing will change that," Sarah comforted her friend.

"Listen, I hate to break up this comfort session, but we should hang up. The moon will rise soon," Amber reminded them. "You're right," Emily said, "Are your mothers going to watch over you?" "Of course," Amber and Sarah replied. "My mom doesn't want me to turn into a siren," Sarah told them. "Siren? Right, my mom told me about that," Amber remembered. "I really wish we could be together for this. This'll be the first full moon we're not together and after what happened during the last one I really don't want to be alone," Sarah said, worried. "Don't worry. This will be the only time we're apart for a full moon," Emily assured her. "Besides our mothers will be watching us like hawks," Amber added.

Just then Emma knocked on Emily's door and said, "The moon is rising in 10 minutes." "Thanks, mom," Emily replied and turned back to her conversation, "You hear that? 10 minutes. We should stop. Lets talk in the morning. Good luck." "Agreed. Good luck," Sarah said. "Good luck. Try not to get moon struck," Amber teased. "Very funny, Amber. We'll see who got moon struck tomorrow," Emily retorted and then the three girls said at the same time, "Bye." They hung up and snuggled into their sleeping bags, trying to find sleep.

* * *

During the same time a boat had docked on Mako Island. The person getting out of the boat smiled, "Perfect. I should be able to see the stars here well." She looked at the woods that were extremely dark. Getting her telescope out of the boat, she said, "Maybe I'll find a good place in the woods on a hill." With her telescope under her arm she headed into the woods. The full moon that wasn't completely over head yet, gave the only light, casting eerie shadows, but the person kept moving, not at all intimidated by the darkness or the noises made by the wild animals.

She soon reached a river. "This seems like a good place," she muttered, backing up towards the river, "Maybe a bit further away from the trees." Suddenly there was no ground under her foot and she fell into a hole, screaming. She landed in a cave. "Great. How am I supposed to get out of here?" she wondered, looking around as she dusted herself off. The girl saw a hole in the wall and walked through it.

In front of her was a pool. "This is inside the volcano," she said in awe, looking around. Just then the full moon appeared above the volcano, illuminating it in a bright light. The girl stepped back startled as the water started to bubble and glow, stammering, "What the…" Carefully she inched towards the bubbling pool. The girl leaned over the pool to take a closer look.

Suddenly there was an explosion and the earth shook. Losing her balance, she fell into the water. Just as she came to the surface the water glowed even brighter than before, blinding her. "What's going on?" she demanded, scared as the light shone out of the opening of the volcano, illuminating the night sky.

* * *

Amber woke up at the sound of her cell phone ringing. As she felt for it, Amber looked at the time. 7:30 a.m. Finding it, she answered, grumpily, "Who dares call me this early?" "It's me," Emily said. "And me," Sarah added, "So did you get moon struck?" "It's 7:30. Call me again in 3 hours and ask again then," Amber retorted, annoyed and was about to hang up, when Emily questioned, "Does that mean you weren't moon struck?" Abandoning her hopes of sleep, Amber answered, "No, I didn't get moon struck. I curled up into my sleeping bag and didn't leave it until now." "That's weird," Sarah muttered.

Now Amber was wide awake. "Wait, does that mean that none of us got moon struck?" she inquired. "Exactly," Emily replied, thoughtfully. "Maybe because we stopped Jessica during the full moon last time, we are now resistant to being moon struck," Sarah suggested, hopefully. "Maybe, but it seems pretty farfetched," Amber objected. "Why don't we discuss this when we see each other in person?" Emily proposed. Amber and Sarah agreed to this and they hung up. Although they all hid it, they were worried. They knew something was wrong.

**A/N: **What was that explosion? Why wasn't anyone moonstruck? Who was that girl? What will happen in the Gold Coast? If you want to know this and more, keep reading. Please review so I know what you think.


	2. Gold Coast

**A/N: I'm really sorry for taking so long to upload. I now have school until late in the afternoon and that means I have less time to write. Add many tests to that and you hardly have any time. I'll try to upload the next one quicker, but I can't make any guarantees. I'll try my best though. Anyway I'm glad so many people like my sequel and thank you for reading and reviewing. Here's chapter 2. Enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Gold Coast

A week after the full moon Amber, Sarah and Emily stood in their new street. They stood in a new development in front of three houses, their new homes. "This is it," Emily said. "I can't believe we'll be neighbors from now on!" Sarah cheered. "They look pretty nice," Amber commented. "Come on! Lets check them out!" Sarah told them, ecstatic and pulled them towards the middle house. Emily and Amber let themselves be pulled to the house.

After having seen the whole downstairs part of the house, the girls went to check out Sarah's room. They entered a beautiful room. "Wow. It's so big," Sarah gasped. "And you get your own bathroom," Emily pointed out. "How cool," Sarah smiled, walking around the room. "And look what you can see from your room," Amber said, standing at one of the windows. Sarah and Emily came to the window and stared. They were looking at Mako Island. "Mako. I wonder if that's a good thing or bad thing," Sarah wondered. "Either way, Amber is right. It looks really pretty," Emily agreed.

After they had inspected every inch of the Sarah's new house, they went into the kitchen. "So what do you think?" Cleo asked, serving them a glass of juice as the girls sat down next to their mothers at a table. "It's really cool," Sarah smiled. "Very nice," Emily added. "Do the other homes look like this too?" Amber inquired. "More or less. Of course, they're all a bit different," Emma answered. "It's pretty big for two people, don't you think? It seems already too big for three people, but two?" Amber questioned. "Amber!" Rikki hissed, giving her daughter a warning look, "Manners." "It's just a question," Amber defended herself. "It's okay, Rikki. It's true that it is pretty big for two, but I'm sure Lewis will be here often," Cleo told them. "I have nothing against it, if Lewis moves in," Sarah added. "That can be discussed later when Lewis is here," Cleo replied, turning a bit red.

"Speaking of Lewis, where is he?" Emma asked, looking around for him. "I have no idea. I tried calling him after we had arrived, but he won't pick up the phone. I haven't really been able to contact him at all lately," Cleo answered, thoughtfully, "Guess I'll have to drive by him later." "We'll go," Sarah offered. "Would you do that?" Cleo questioned. The three girls nodded and got up. They walked into the backyard. It bordered the ocean. They took a running start towards the small dock that went from the backyard. At the end they dove into the ocean.

Swimming off, they smiled at each other. Finally they were swimming together again. At the same time they kicked it into overdrive, zooming off. When they reached Lewis' house, they slowly surfaced, making sure nobody was around. "I won," Emily smiled. "No way. I was like three feet in front of you," Amber retorted. "Why can't we just swim normally? This is the first time we've swum together after a long time," Sarah questioned. "That's no fun," Amber replied. "Whatever. Lets go see if Lewis home," Sarah sighed as they swam for shore.

After Amber had dried them, they walked up to Lewis' beach house. After ringing like three billion times, Emily said, "Seems he's not home." "Where else would he be? He knows that we're coming today. There's no way my mom would let him forget," Sarah objected. "Let me try," Amber told them and banged against the door with her fist. Just then the door opened up. "It's open," Sarah muttered, surprised. "Guess that answers the question if he's home. There's no way he would leave without locking the door," Amber replied as they entered the house. Entering the living room, they saw Lewis hunched over a pile of books and papers. "Lewis," Sarah said, making him jump. Turning around, he said, "You scared me." "Scared you? We rang the bell like a million times and I crashed open your door. What more do you want? You want us to throw a bomb so you hear us?" Amber questioned, annoyed. "I don't think a bomb will be necessary," Lewis answered, "Sorry, I was busy researching something." "What?" Emily questioned. "Haven't you heard?" Lewis asked and showed them the cover of a newspaper. "Meteorite crashes, volcano illuminating," it read. "What's this?" the girls inquired. "In short it says that during the night of the full moon a meteorite crashed right next Mako Island. It caused the earth to shake and a moment after the impact a light exploded out of the volcano, illuminating the night sky for a while," he told them, "Are you alright? Did anything weird happen to you during the full moon?" "Ah, no, nothing," Sarah muttered, still in awe at what had happened. "Nothing?" Lewis repeated, thoughtfully. "Wait. That's just it. None of us were moonstruck," Emily told him. "None of you?" Lewis questioned. "No. We're guessing that it was because the moon helped us last time to defeat Jessica," Amber told him. "Maybe… Maybe the full moon didn't effect us, because the meteorite hit Mako Island," Emily suggested. "That's exactly what I was just thinking," Lewis agreed.

"I wonder if Mako Island took any damage?" Sarah wondered, worried. "Hopefully not," Emily whispered. "Lets go check it out," Amber suggested. "Good idea," the others agreed and they were about to leave when Lewis asked, "Wait, why were you here anyway?" "That's right, I completely forgot. Mom sent us to get you," Sarah told him. "Right, you moved in today," Lewis remembered, "I should get going." "We'll go to Mako. Tell our mothers, okay?" Before Lewis could say anything, the girls were gone.

The girls surfaced in front Mako Island, inspecting it. "It doesn't look damaged," Sarah sighed with relief. "Lets see if the moon pool is alright," Emily suggested and they dove under again, swimming towards the entrance. In the underwater passage to the moon pool, they froze. Something felt off, but they couldn't tell what it is. Shrugging they swam on and surfaced in the moon pool. Everything seemed normal. "Everything seems to be alright," Emily said. "I don't know. The rock wall seems a bit darker," Sarah observed, a bit worried. "I think you need to check your eyes. It looks the same as before," Amber objected.

"Hey, look, at the bottom of the moon pool," Emily pointed out. Looking at the bottom they saw a medium sized rock. "Is that the meteorite?" Amber questioned. "I think so," Emily answered. "Cool, I've never seen one up close," Sarah smiled. "I always thought meteorites were bigger," Amber objected. "They have to go through the Earth's atmosphere. It was definitely bigger before," Emily explained. "Shouldn't we push it out of the moon pool? Not that someone accidentally finds it and scientists start swarming the place," Amber suggested. The girls nodded and dove under. They tried to push the rock, but it was a lot heavier than it looked. It wouldn't budge no matter how much the girls tried. Surfacing again, Sarah said, "It's no use. It's too heavy." "Then I guess we leave it here. I don't think people will come here looking for it," Emily told them. "Lets go back," Sarah suggested and the girls nodded.

Back on the mainland the girls walked down the street. "So what are you going to do?" Sarah asked. "I'm going to meet Jordan," Amber answered. "And I'm going to see if I can find Daniel," Emily told them, "What about you?" "Not sure. Ryan is busy today so I guess I'll go home," Sarah replied. Just as they turned the corner, Sarah ran into someone. Sarah fell to the ground along with many papers and a notebook. Looking up she saw a girl with dark brown hair. "I'm so sorry," the girl apologized, falling to her knees and began picking up papers. "It's okay," Sarah replied as she, Amber and Emily also picked up the papers. Getting up the girls handed the stranger her papers. "Thanks," the girl smiled, organizing the papers, "I don't want to be a bother, but could you tell me how to get to the high school?" "The high school? Sure. Just go down the street, take the second left, then make a right and keep walking straight," Emily told her. "Do you also go there?" the girl questioned. "Yeah, we just moved here and are starting after summer break," Sarah answered. "Really? Me too. I'm Rachel, by the way," the girl introduced herself, her brown eyes gleaming with joy. "I'm Amber. This is Emily and Sarah," Amber replied. "Well, I should get going. It was nice to meet you all. I hope I see you around school. Bye," Rachel smiled and hurried off.

"She seems really nice," Sarah said, looking after Rachel. "I agree. Maybe we'll have a class together. We seem to be the same age," Emily replied. "Listen, I have to go see Jordan. See you later," Amber excused herself and left. "I guess I'll go see if I can find Daniel," Emily sighed. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's just very busy," Sarah replied, "Good luck." With that the two friends split.

Sarah walked along the beach, heading home. She was daydreaming when suddenly she felt something weird. Sarah looked around, but nobody was around. "Now you're getting paranoid," she told herself, shaking her head. Just then, she didn't know why, but she looked at the ocean and ducked just in time to dodge something coming straight at her head. "What the…," Sarah stammered, sitting on the ground staring at the thing in front of her wide eyed. In front of her a tentacle of water moved like a snake.

Suddenly the tentacle lunged at Sarah. Instinctively she activated her power, trying to get the water to listen to her. For a moment the water just floated there, but then it continued its attack, making Sarah jump out of the way. The tentacle zoomed past the spot where Sarah had stood just a second ago and hit a big tree. There was a loud crack and the tree came down, barely missing Sarah. She stared at the spot where the tree had stood.

"I need help," she thought, getting out her cell phone as she dodged another assault. As she typed the message, Sarah used her magic to make a water shield. "Please hold," Sarah prayed as the tentacle beat down on the shield. With every impact, Sarah could feel her shield weakening. Just as she had sent the message, her shield gave way to the assault.

* * *

Amber walked towards her meeting place with Jordan. Seeing her boyfriend sitting on a bench in the park, brought a smile to her face. Jordan got up and gave her a kiss. "How is my favorite mermaid?" he asked. "Not so loud and don't say that unless you have to," Amber hissed, looking around making sure nobody had heard that. "Well I had to say it," Jordan smiled. Amber rolled her eyes, but smiled back.

Walking off Jordan asked, "So how was the full moon?" "Well…," Amber began, looking a bit caught. "You were moonstruck?" Jordan questioned, worried. "Gotcha," Amber laughed, "That was payback for the mermaid thing. But seriously, no none of us were moonstruck." "None of you were moonstruck? I mean I am glad you weren't moonstruck and caused a storm, but it is weird," Jordan replied. "That's what we thought too," Amber told him. "Did you hear of the meteorite crashing near Mako?" Jordan questioned. "Yeah, Lewis just told us. We're guessing that's why we weren't moonstruck. We also went to Mako Island to make sure that it was okay. Everything was alright there," Amber answered. "So shall we go get a smoothie?" Jordan asked.

Before Amber could answer, her phone rang. Getting it out, she looked at her sms and her eyes widened. "Help! Being attacked by the beach," it read. "I think we're going to have to postpone that. I got to go," she said quickly. "What happened?" Jordan questioned. "I'm not sure, but Sarah is in trouble. Listen, I'll talk to you later," Amber told him and hurried off.

* * *

Meanwhile Emily had walked to the university. Standing at the gate, she realized that finding Daniel would be like finding a needle in a haystack. The university was huge and many people were on the campus. "Great," she muttered, "How am I ever going to find him?" Just as she was about to start looking for him, she saw him walking towards the gate. Before Emily could call his name, someone called, "Daniel! Over here!" Emily turned to the voice to see a girl her age with light brown hair waving to him. Daniel waved back as he walked over to her and hugged her. "You're done with school for today, right? Lets go," the girl asked as she took a hold of Daniel's arm and pulled him towards the opposite direction of Emily, who just stood there. "I did promise you the next two days after school are just you and me and that you get to decide what we're doing," Emily heard Daniel answer with a smile. "They really do make a good couple," Emily thought, sadly.

Looking after them, she was debating whether or not to follow them when her phone rang. "A sms from Sarah?" Emily wondered, looking at the screen and then opened it, "What the…!" Emily completely forgot about Daniel and the girl and hurried towards the beach.

* * *

Back at the beach Sarah was still dodging from the tentacle. "Hurry up, Amber, Emily, If you don't hurry up, I'll be dead soon," Sarah pleaded, silently, backing up towards the street, "Please don't let anyone see this." Suddenly her back hit something. Looking up, she saw an electric box. Before she could get away from the box, the tentacle lunged at her. Sarah jumped to the side and the tentacle hit the box. Sparks flew and electricity went through the tentacle. Sarah covered her eyes until the shower of sparks stopped. Taking her hands from her eyes she saw a puddle of water on the ground and a hole in the electric box.

"What the…," Sarah stammered, staring at the mess in front of her. "Sarah!" she heard people call her name. "Over here!" Sarah cried. Soon Amber and Emily emerged on the street. The two blondes stared at the sight in front of them. Their friend sat in the middle of a great mess. "What happened here?" Emily finally managed to ask. "I'm not sure myself. I was suddenly attacked by water," Sarah answered, getting up. "You were attacked by water!" the girls exclaimed and Sarah nodded. "What kind of joke is this?" Amber asked, not sure if she was buying this. "It's no joke. Water really attacked me," Sarah insisted. "If water really attacked you, you could have used your magic," Emily pointed out. "I did try, but it didn't really have an effect," Sarah retorted. "But how dangerous can water be?" Amber questioned. "You would be surprised," Sarah replied and led them back to the tree that now laid on the beach, "The water tentacle did this." Emily and Amber stared at the fallen tree trunk.

"This is serious," Emily said, astonished. "You think," Sarah muttered, "That water tried to kill me." "I wonder where that water came from?" Amber questioned. "I wish I knew," Sarah answered. "Great now we not only have to worry about school, but this water tentacle too," Amber said. "And about Daniel," Emily added, silently. "So what do we do now?" Sarah questioned. "I guess we can't do anything right now. We have no idea where that tentacle came from nor why it attacked you," Emily answered, "Lets go home." "But we're not telling our mothers about this. I don't want to ruin the whole reunion because of this," Amber said and Emily and Sarah nodded.

Returning back to Sarah's house, they found their mothers and Lewis. "Hey girls, thanks for getting Lewis," Cleo said. "Welcome," the girls replied. "How was Mako?" Lewis asked. "There was nothing out of the ordinary," Emily answered. "So, Lewis, are you moving in with us?" Sarah asked, remembering her discussion with her mother. "Sarah!" Cleo hissed, turning bright red. Emma and Rikki made a caught face, which told the girls that Cleo hadn't talked to Lewis about it yet. "Oops," Sarah muttered with a sheepish grin.

At last Lewis broke the awkward silence, saying, "Well, Sarah, that depends if your mother wants me to." All the eyes in the room fixed on Cleo. "Ah… Of course it would be nice if you lived with us, but I can't force you to move out of your house," Cleo replied, unsure of what to say. "Just say yes or no," Lewis told her. Finally Cleo smiled, "Yes, I want you to live with us." "If that's how it is, then I'll gladly live with you," Lewis answered, smiling and hugged Cleo. The others in the room smiled, happily.

**A/N: **What will Emily do about Daniel? What is up with the water tentacle? Please review. I'll try to upload quicker.


	3. Tracking

**A/N: Finally I was able to upload. Thanks for reading, reviewing and having patience with me. Here's chapter 3. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 3: Tracking

The next day Emily, Sarah and Amber sat in Sarah's kitchen, eating cookies. They were alone, since Cleo and Lewis were at Lewis' house, packing his things. "I still don't get why water attacked you," Emily said, resting her chin in her palm. "If it attacked you," Amber corrected, still not entirely sure that she believed Sarah. "Do you seriously believe I did all that myself?" Sarah questioned, a bit ticked off. "Maybe," Amber retorted, a bit playfully. "And what would I have to gain from that?" Sarah asked, annoyed. "Stop arguing," Emily interrupted them, not in the mood for this. Her mind was with Daniel. Who was that girl? Why was she so close to him?

"Lets just say that the water attacked Sarah, but why?" Emily questioned. "We already had this. We don't have any clue about anything. We don't know what it is, why it attacked Sarah or where it came from," Amber retorted. "Besides nothing changed since we became mermaids. Why would it attack us now, if it had the chance during camp and while we were separated?" Sarah pointed out. "There must be an answer to all this, we just haven't fou…," Emily began, but shut up when they heard the footsteps coming down the hall.

Just then Cleo came in with grocery bags in her arms. The girls got up to help Cleo."Thanks girls. You don't have to stop talking just because of me. Continue," Cleo told them. Sarah, Emily and Amber stayed silent. "Or is it something that you can't tell me? What are you talking about?" Cleo questioned in a bit demanding voice. The girls looked at each other, not sure what to say. "Well?" Cleo said, giving them a hard look. "We… We were wondering if we could have Lewis' old house, since he won't be living there much longer," Amber lied. "Lewis' old house? Why?" Cleo asked, curiously. "Well… Because it would be so nice to have a beach house. You know for mermaid purposes," Sarah answered. Cleo thought for a moment and then said, "Well, I guess you would have to discuss that with Lewis, but I don't think there will be a problem as long as you don't destroy it. I must admit that's a good idea." "Yeah. That's what we thought. We just didn't want to seem rude by talking about it before it was okay," Emily explained. Cleo nodded and then left to get the rest of the groceries.

Emily and Sarah turned to Amber. "What was all that about?" Emily demanded. "Be glad I thought of something or do you want to tell Sarah's mom that her daughter was attacked by a weird water tentacle that we know nothing about?" Amber retorted, "I don't know about you, but I don't think Cleo will find it funny to find out that thing tried to kill Sarah." "Guys, lets learn from our mistakes and continue this somewhere else, before we have to make up the next lie," Sarah suggested and the girls nodded. They walked upstairs, but not before Amber snagged the plate of cookies.

After they had closed the door behind them, Sarah said, "Listen, Amber. I'm glad you thought of something, but getting the house? That just seems really greedy." "Hey, your mom believed it, didn't she? What's the problem? We can always change our minds," Amber retorted.

Looking at the time, Sarah said, "I got to go. I'm meeting Ryan." "Speaking of guys, do we tell them about the tentacle?" Amber asked, "I have to get a good reason for ditching Jordan yesterday." "I say we don't. They would be very worried about us if they found out," Emily replied. "But maybe Ryan could help us, if we told him, since talking to Lewis is out of the question. The last time we did that our mothers found out," Sarah objected. "Lets keep it a secret for now and see what happens. If we have to tell them, we still can," Emily suggested. "Okay," Sarah agreed. "Fine. I'll put my lying skills to the test then with Jordan. I have to meet him now too," Amber said. "Are you going to see Daniel?" Sarah asked. "No, he's in class right now. I'll just go for a walk," Emily lied. With that the girls left the house and went their separate ways.

Emily walked down the street and soon entered the park. It was a beautiful day, but not even that could really cheer Emily up. Daniel wouldn't go out of her head. Or better to say Daniel and that girl. Who was she?

"Excuse me," a voice said, bring Emily back to reality. Emily turned to see the girl that had been with Daniel yesterday. She really was pretty. Her light brown hair framed her face perfectly and her brown eyes sparkled beautifully in the sunlight. "Could you tell me how to get to this café?" she asked, showing Emily the name and address of a café that wasn't very far away. "It's not far from here. First you…," Emily began, but then an idea came to her, "On second thought, I'll bring you there." "That would be great. Thanks. I'm Amanda," the girl introduced herself. "Emily," Emily replied as they walked off. "Emily… I know I've heard the name before, but where… Sorry I'm a bit forgetful at times," Amanda said. "It's okay," Emily answered. "I'm guessing you live here," Amanda assumed and Emily nodded, "When I was younger, I used to live here too, but I moved. I now live too far away to come regularly and so I just come to visit once every half a year and for holidays. Sorry I must be talking too much." "No, no. It's okay," Emily replied, "Well there it is." Emily carefully scanned the crowd around the café and to her relief didn't see Daniel. "Thank you for bringing me here. I don't know what I would have done, if you hadn't helped me," Amanda said, "Bye." Emily waved after her as Amanda hurried towards the café.

Emily was just about to turn around to walk off, believing that she had completely blown things out of proportion, when Daniel came out of the café. She froze, seeing Amanda and Daniel hug. "You're late," Emily heard Daniel say, "Did you get lost?" "Well, sort of… But luckily a girl showed me the way. She's over there," Amanda replied, gesturing towards the spot where Emily had just stood, but had ducked into a store before Daniel could see here, "That's weird. She was just there. Oh, well, lets go."

As Amanda pulled Daniel down the street, Emily came out of the store. What should she do? "If I follow them and get caught it'll be really embarrassing," Emily muttered to herself. Emily was about to walk into the opposite direction when she saw them turning the corner. Turning on her heel, she hurried after them.

* * *

Sarah waved to Ryan as she saw him on the beach. After kissing him, he asked, "Hey Sarah. How was the move? How do you like the Gold Coast so far?" "The move was fine. And the Gold Coast? Well, I can say that it just got a whole lot better," Sarah smiled a they started to walk down the beach. "You're too kind," Ryan replied. "I can't believe though that school is starting soon," Sarah said. "Well that means we can see each other during the day," Ryan pointed out. "Yeah," Sarah agreed.

Just then they walked past the place where Sarah had been attacked only yesterday. "What happened to the tree?" Ryan asked, seeing the big trunk laying on the sand in front of them. Sarah froze, remembering the tentacle of water as it just barely missed her. "Who… Who knows," she replied, trying to keep a calm expression. "I'm positive that it was still standing a few days ago," Ryan muttered. "Maybe," Sarah whispered, getting more and more uncomfortable. "There weren't any heavy storms and the tree wasn't cut down. Not to mention it was healthy," Ryan analyzed. Sarah looked away, pleading that he wouldn't notice..

"Is everything alright, Sarah?" Ryan asked, looking at her, "You seem off." "Crap," Sarah thought as she debated with herself what to do. "You don't have to tell me, if…," Ryan began after a long silence, but Sarah interrupted, "What would you say, if I told you that this happen while a water tentacle attacked me?" Ryan stared at her, astonished. "You're kidding, right?" he questioned. "I wish I was," Sarah relied. "What happened exactly?" Ryan asked. "If I tell you, you must swear not to tell Amber and Emily. We sort of wanted to keep this a secret," Sarah told him and Ryan nodded. So she began to explain.

* * *

Meanwhile Emily had followed Amanda and Daniel to the mall. They had gotten a smoothie and were talking happily. Just then they entered a store. Emily slowly inched towards the store. It was filled with small statues, jewelry and other cute stuff. Daniel and Amanda were looking at various different statues. Daniel picked up a small statue with a heart as its center. Amanda shook her head, saying something.

"Emily," someone suddenly said. Turning around, she saw Rachel. "Rachel," Emily replied, "What are you doing here?" "Shopping for stuff before school starts," Rachel answered, "And you?" "I, well, I'm just walking around," Emily lied. "Where are Amber and Sarah? Aren't they with you?" Rachel asked, looking around. "No, they're not. They're busy so I'm here on my own," Emily answered. "If that's the case, why don't we do something together?" Rachel suggested.

Just then Daniel looked out of the store and saw Emily. Astonished, he placed the statue he was holding back on counter and walked outside. "Emily," he said. Emily stared at him for a moment and then ran off. "Emily! Hey, wait!" Daniel called after her as he took on the pursuit.

Emily ran out of the mall and around to the back entrances. The mall was right next to the ocean so there was only a small walkway that went between the mall and railing that cut it off from the ocean. Praying that Daniel hadn't see where she had run, Emily slowed down and came to a stop. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, but it definitely didn't make her feel good. Leaning on the railing, she looked at the waves lap against the shore.

"Emily," she suddenly heard someone say. Silently cursing, she turned to see Daniel. "Why did you run away?" he asked. "Isn't that my business? Shouldn't you be the one explaining?" she demanded, letting out all the emotions she had bottled up for so long. "Explaining? Explaining what?" Daniel replied, confused, but then realized what she meant, "You mean Amanda? You think I'm dating Amanda?" "Well, meeting in a café or in front of the university, getting smoothies and shopping together," Emily listed, but froze realizing what she had just said. "Where you spying on us?" Daniel asked.

Not sure what she should say, Emily only stared at him. Just then she had a weird feeling. "Look out!" Daniel suddenly exclaimed and jumped towards her, taking Emily to the ground. Sitting up, she demanded, "What was that for?" Daniel only pointed. Looking to where he was pointing, she saw a water tentacle. Emily stared. "Not seriously," she muttered as they got up, "Sarah was telling the truth."

Just then the tentacle shot towards them. Jumping to the side, Daniel asked, "What is that thing?" Emily looked at him and answered, "Listen, I'll explain later. Right now you have to get out of here." "What about you?" Daniel questioned, worried. "It'll follow me if I try to run away. Call Sarah and Amber," Emily told him as they dodged another assault and she handed him her phone, "Wait for my signal then run." Daniel nodded.

Emily raised her hand and activated her power. The tentacle froze to solid ice. "Run!" she yelled and Daniel sprinted off. Emily was wondering if she had stopped it when the tentacle shook itself and the ice cage burst apart. "Of course it would have been too easy," she muttered as she stepped towards the wall of the mall. Again the tentacle lunged at her and she jumped to the side, making the tentacle hit a trash can. There was a loud crashing sound and Emily saw that the tentacle had left a huge dent in the steel trash can. Her eyes widened. She needed a plan. Looking around Emily tried to find something useful, but there was nothing.

Dodging another attack, Emily felt her back hit the wall. In front of her the tentacle was floating around, ready for its next attack and to either side where trash cans. She was trapped. Just then the tentacle lunged at her and Emily closed her eyes, ready for the impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes Emily saw a shield of water. Looking to the side, she smiled, seeing Amber and Sarah. "Are you alright?" Sarah asked, careful not to get too close. "Yeah, thanks to you," Emily answered. "Lets try all together. On three," Amber suggested and the girls nodded, "One, two, three." They each activated their power. The tentacle started to twitch and shake. Suddenly it exploded, water splashing everywhere.

Sarah and Amber hurried to Emily's side. "Thanks, guys. You saved me," Emily said. "So Amber, do you believe me now?" Sarah asked as they came out from behind the mall. "Yes, I believe you," Amber replied, a bit annoyed. "Emily!" Daniel exclaimed, running up to them, "Are you alright?" "I'm fine," Emily answered.

"There you are Daniel. Where have you been?" someone asked. Turning the group saw Amanda walking up to them. Amanda's eyes widened when she saw Emily. "So you met. Daniel this is the girl I was talking about, Emilia. Emilia this is my older brother, Daniel and those must be your friends," Amanda said. "Sister," Emily stammered, feeling herself turning red. "Amanda, we've met before. This is my girlfriend, Emily," Daniel told her. "Sorry, I'm bad with names, but you're the girlfriend my brother couldn't stop talking about. I can't believe I finally get to meet you," Amanda smiled. "You're his sister?" Emily repeated. "Yes. Our parents divorced and mom and I moved away. Wait, don't tell me… You thought I was his girlfriend!" Amanda exclaimed. "She was helping find a gift for you," Daniel explained. "A gift?" Emily repeated. "As a way to make it up to you that I've been so busy lately," Daniel clarified. Emily smiled at him, "You don't need to do that. I forgive you." With that she kissed him.

"Well, we should get going. We shouldn't intrude on your time any longer," Emily said. "Wait, what about that explanation?" Daniel asked. "Right," Emily muttered and turned to her friends, "Maybe we should tell them." "It would make things easier. I just had to run away from Jordan again. He must be thinking that I hate him," Amber replied. "Well, to be honest, I already told Ryan," Sarah confessed, "Sorry." The girls sighed. "We'll explain it tonight," Emily told Daniel, who nodded.

That evening Emily, Sarah and Amber met their boys at Lewis' house. Nobody was around. After the girls had explained everything to them, Jordan asked, "So you lied to me?" "Yeah that's right," Amber replied, "But it won't happen again. At least not with this topic." "Well that makes me feel very relieved," he said, sarcastically and everyone laughed. The girls were happy that they had told them.

**A/N: **Nothing could go wrong now that they have told their boyfriends, but soon school is starting? Can the girls keep a low profile and adapt to their new school? Please review.


	4. School

**A/N: First of all a delayed Happy New Year! Secondly I know you must be tired of hearing me saying this, but I'm sorry that I can't upload sooner. I'll do by best uploading the next one, but I can't make guarantees. Well for now here is chapter 4. Enjoy.**

Chapter 4: School

A few days later Amber, Sarah and Emily stood in front of their school's gate. Although they were pretty early a lot of students already were on campus, exchanging news about their summer. Sarah looked at her friends, asking, "Nervous?" "Nope," Amber half lied. "A little," Emily muttered, "How about you?" "A lot," Sarah replied, "I feel sick to my stomach." "Don't worry. It's not like you're going through this alone. Amber and I are with you. Plus you already know Ryan and Jordan," Emily pointed out, hoping it would calm her friend down. "That's true," Sarah admitted, giving her friend a small smile.

Then a thought came to her. "What if the tentacle attacks us, while we're in school?" Sarah asked, scared. "That won't happen. It can't possibly be crazy enough to attack when everyone could see it," Emily replied. "But what if it does?" Sarah questioned. "Then we'll beat it. You saw that it doesn't stand a chance against us as long as we're together," Amber told her. "That won't help us if we can't defend ourselves, because we're surrounded by our classmates," Sarah retorted. "Stop worrying so much. We'll worry about it when the time comes," Emily said, putting around her friend. "For now lets enjoy our first day at this school," Amber smiled as they walked across the grass to the school.

"Hey, there beautiful," someone said, stepping in front of Amber. It was a guy their age with blond hair and blue eyes. He was clearly a jock. "You mean me?" Amber questioned, narrowing her eyes at the guy. "Yeah. You new here?" he asked, "If you want I'll show you around and after that, I'll invite you to a café so we can get to know each other." "No thanks, I'm not interested," Amber retorted and pushed passed him. "Wait, I'm Heath, by the way," he said as he grabbed her hand, making her turn around and winked at her, "What's yours?" "Let go," Amber demanded, annoyed and yanked her hand free.

"Heath, lets go," a guy called over to him. "I got to go. Hopefully, I'll see you later," Heath said with a final wink and then walked off. "What was that all about?" Sarah asked. "He's weird," Emily said. "He's an idiot. If he crosses my path again and hits on me, I'll kill him personally," Amber replied. "Wouldn't it have been easier to tell him you have a boyfriend?" Sarah questioned. "It would have made him confront Jordan and cause a huge ruckus," Amber retorted. "Lets go. We have to see in which class we are," Emily told them and the others nodded.

Inside the school, they found the bulletin board with the homeroom lists on it. "There I am," Sarah said, pointing to her name on one of the lists. "I'm in that class too," Emily smiled. "What about you, Amber?" Sarah asked. "Me three. Looks like we all have homeroom together," Amber replied and the girls smiled at each other. "You're in my homeroom class too, Amber," Heath smiled, appearing next to them, probably having overheard them, "I'll see in a bit then, beautiful." With that Heath walked off. "I'll kill him," Amber muttered as her hand slowly rose up and balled into a fist. "Don't," Emily and Sarah, hissed, both grabbing her hand. Sarah shook her head and Emily said, "He's not worth it." Slowly Amber lowered her hand again. "I know, but guys like that just get to me. Those jocks that think they are so great," Amber replied. "Don't worry. The possibility of having him in any other class is very unlikely," Emily tried to comfort her.

"Lets go to class," Sarah suggested. "Good idea," Emily agreed. "But where is class?" Amber pointed out. The girls froze, realizing they had no idea where they had to go. "How about we always keep to the right?" Amber suggested. "That's when you're in a maze and that doesn't always work," Emily replied. "It could still work," Amber said, "Besides don't you have a plan of the school or something." "No, I don't," Emily retorted.

"Guys, stop. This won't help us. Lets ask someone," Sarah proposed and walked over to a girl with brown hair, who had her back to them, "Excuse me, but where is Mr. Martin's homeroom?" "Sarah?" the girl asked, turning around. It was Rachel. "Rachel," the girls smiled. "How are you?" Emily asked. "Good, thanks. You're asking about Mr. Martin? Does that mean you're in his homeroom class?" Rachel questioned and the girls nodded, "Me too." "How cool," Sarah smiled. "So do you have any idea?" Amber asked. "Yeah, I do. I have a map with me," Rachel replied, showing them the map in her hand, "We have to go that way."

Arriving at their homeroom, they each took a seat side by side. "Mind if I sit behind you?" Heath asked, coming up to Amber. "I mind, but you'll sit there anyway, right," Amber retorted and Heath sat down with a smile.

Just then Jordan and Ryan appeared at the door. Beaming, Sarah jumped from her seat, followed by Emily. Reluctantly Amber also got up and walked after her friends. "Morning. It seems you found your homeroom just fine," Ryan smiled. "Yeah, Rachel helped us," Sarah replied. "Morning," Jordan said and gave Amber a kiss. Silently Amber cursed when Heath got up and walked up to them. "What are you to Amber, Jordan?" Heath demanded. "I don't think that's any of your business, Heath," Jordan retorted, "But if you must know, I'm her boyfriend." "Not for long," Heath sneered. "Oh really. You think you can do anything about that?" Jordan asked, annoyed as they were getting closer to one another. "Stop it, both of you!" Amber demanded as she stepped between them and pushed them an arm's length away from one another.

Just then the bell rang. "Go Jordan," Amber told him and grudgingly Jordan left, but only after shooting Heath a look of death. Ryan hurried after Jordan and seemed to be trying to calm him down. "Saved by the bell," Sarah sighed as Heath also walked back to his seat. "That's why I didn't tell Heath I had a boyfriend," Amber said as they sat down. "What are you going to do?" Emily asked. "I'm thinking about that," Amber replied as the teacher came in.

"Good morning students. I'm Mr. Martin and for this year your homeroom teacher and for some your science teacher," he introduced himself. Mr. Martin was in his forties and seemed very kind. "Good morning," the class chorused. "I would like to welcome everyone one back from summer vacation and to those who are new, I hope you like your new school. I hope you enjoyed your vacation," he said, "I'll pass out your schedules."

"Look. We have math, science and gym together," Sarah smiled. "That's good. We can help each other, if we need help," Emily replied. "That sounds good. I'm not the best in science," Sarah admitted, "Look, we have Mr. Martin in science." "That's cool. He seems really nice," Emily replied, "What do you think of him, Amber?" "Yeah, sure, whatever," Amber answered, obviously not paying attention. "She must be thinking about what to do with Heath," Emily guessed and Sarah nodded in agreement.

Just then the bell rang, ending homeroom. Outside the classroom, Sarah said, "I guess we'll see each other during lunch." "Yeah. See you later," Emily replied. Amber walked off without a word.

It was now lunch time. The girls had sat down at a table with Jordan and Ryan. "How were your first classes?" Ryan asked. "Good. The teachers are really nice here," Emily answered. "Okay. Classes are hard here," Sarah said. "This is one of the best school around," Ryan replied and Sarah shrugged.

"What's wrong with him?" Emily asked, meaning Jordan, who just sat there looking annoyed. "He's been like this ever since this morning," Ryan explained and then looked at Amber, "She doesn't seem much better either." "Nope. We think she's plotting her revenge on Heath," Sarah replied. "She looks like it at least," Ryan smirked.

Just then Heath came up to them. "So what do you think of my offer?" he asked, causing everyone to look up at him. "Offer," Amber repeated. "Going to a café after school," Heath reminded her. Everyone was waiting for Amber tell him off, but instead Amber smiled her sweetest smile, got up and said, "Right. Sure I'll go." Everyone stared at Amber in horror. Had she lost her mind? Jordan was visibly the most shocked. "Really?" Heath asked, a bit surprised. "Of course. How could I say no to such a persistent guy, who is not to mention pretty hot," Amber replied, "You just have to change one thing." "Which would be?" he questioned. "You're character!" Amber snapped, grabbed her coca, that she had been drinking and dumped the rest over Heath's head, "I'll say it one last time! I won't ever like you! Now leave me alone!"

There was a deadly silence in the cafeteria. Everyone was staring at them. Heath stared at Amber as he wiped the coca out of his eyes. "Very well. For now I'll give up," he said and with that he walked away. With a triumphant smile Amber sat down again. "Good job. Remind me never to get on your bad side," Jordan said, his mood a lot better as he wrapped an arm around Amber. "Don't you think you overdid it?" Sarah asked, worried. "He got what he deserved," Amber retorted, "Problem solved. Now I can enjoy the rest of the first day of school." "Nothing gets you nervous, does it?" Emily asked as Amber continued her lunch. "Say, what do we have after lunch?" Sarah questioned. "Gym. I'm really interested to see what we're going to be doing," Emily replied.

And so after lunch the girls headed to the gym, where they found Rachel standing among a swarm of people. "Amber, Sarah, Emily, you have gym now too? Who do you have?" Rachel asked. "Mrs. Hansen," Sarah replied. "Me too," Rachel smiled. Just then two teachers came in, a man and a woman. "All my students over here," the woman said in a very strong voice. The mob of student split up.

"My name is Mrs. Hansen, but you'll call me Coach," Mrs. Hansen told them. Her muscles were clearly visible under her t-shirt. She was definitely one of those people would run marathons every day and had the motto no pain, no gain. "We will start our class like it is done every year so get changed," she said and everyone disappeared into the locker rooms, except for the girls and Rachel. "Excuse us, Coach, but we're new so we didn't know that we had to bring sport clothes with us," Emily told her. "Very well. For today you will help out, but I expect you all to bring your stuff next lesson," Coach replied. The girls nodded.

Just then the other students came back, causing Sarah, Emily and Amber to stare. They were all wearing swimsuits. "Please don't tell me that they're swimming," Sarah prayed. "Lets go to the pool. Time to swim laps," Coach said as everyone followed her, the girls making up the rear. After walking through a corridor, they went through a door. They walked until they rounded a corner and then they stood in front of the pool.

"Everyone warm up," Coach ordered. "Coach, could we talk to you?" Sarah asked, coming up her. "Sure what is it?" she replied. "The thing is that we can't swim," Amber told her. "You don't know how to swim?" Coach questioned. "No, we know how to swim, it's just we can't," Emily replied, unsure of how to explain it. "Sorry girls, but unless you give me a good reason, you will swim next lesson," Coach said, firmly and turned back to pool, "Okay, time to time laps."

While everyone swam laps, Amber, Sarah and Emily stayed at the sidelines as far away as possible from the pool. "What do we do?" Sarah asked, "We need a good excuse by the next class." "When is the next class?" Amber questioned. "Tomorrow," Emily replied. "Tomorrow! There's no way we can find an excuse by tomorrow," Sarah exclaimed. "Unfortunately I have to agree with Sarah. She doesn't seem like the type to buy just any excuse," Amber replied, depressed. "Guys, come on. We can think of something," Emily tried to cheer them up. "You can go ahead and try," Amber said, "Great. I just solved one problem, now we have another." "I doubt dumping coca on her head will help in this case," Emily replied, causing Sarah and Amber to laugh. "Fine, we'll find a way," Amber muttered, a bit annoyed at herself for being so easily effected by optimism. "Yeah, lets put our thinking caps on," Sarah smiled.

The rest of the school day passed uneventfully. That evening the girls sat in Sarah's room, discussing what they could do. They had been at it for a hour without any success. "What if we say we're sick?" Sarah suggested, laying on her bed. "You seriously think she'll buy us all being sick for a moth or two?" Amber replied. "It could work for a short time, giving us more time to think," Emily said.

"Why don't we just ask our parents to write an excuse?" Sarah asked, having run out of ideas. "No way. Our mothers were able to go through it alone, so we can too. How are we ever supposed to take care of ourselves, if we always run to our mothers when we encounter a problem," Amber retorted, firmly. "Unfortunately I have to agree with Amber. They would think we can't handle the situation ourselves," Emily agreed. "Then what do we do?" Sarah questioned, "It doesn't seem like we made any progress since we started." Unfortunately the blondes had to agree with the brunette.

"Say, when is the next full moon?" Sarah asked, changing the subject. "Don't worry. The new moon is only in a few days, which means that we still have a while," Emily answered. "Good," Sarah sighed. "At least the tentacle didn't attack like you feared, Sarah," Amber said, smirked. "Yeah, yeah, just laugh at me. If the tentacle had attacked you wouldn't be laughing," Sarah retorted.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Cleo came in. "You sure are lively today. What's this talk about a tentacle?" she asked. Sarah sat there for a moment stunned. "We were talking about our science class," Amber lied. "Right. About kraken, squids and such," Emily continued. "I see," Cleo replied, seeming to have bought it. "What did you want mom?" Sarah asked. "Right. I wanted to ask if you are eating dinner with us, Emily, Amber?" Cleo answered. The blondes nodded and thanked Cleo, who then left. "That was close," Emily sighed. "Next time we discuss things like this, we go to the place where nobody is home," Amber said.

After dinner the girls talked some more, but couldn't come up with anything useful. The next day came way too quickly and thus the next gym lesson. Although all three of them had packed their bathing suits, but wouldn't change into them. While everyone changed, they were in the gym, waiting for the others. "What do we do?" Sarah asked, starting to panic. "I don't know," Emily admitted. "We can't swim," Amber said. "We know that, but we couldn't find a good excuse," Emily retorted. "Well we can't just stand here in our street clothes. Coach will be really mad, if she sees us like this," Sarah said.

Just then they heard someone cry, "Get away!" The girls looked up. It was coming from the pool. They hurried there and froze when they turned the corner. At the edge of the pool stood a terrified Rachel wit her back to them. In front of her floated a tentacle. "Oh no," Emily muttered. "What do we do?" Sarah asked. "We can't help her. She would find out we're mermaids," Amber replied. "But we have to help her. She's in trouble because of us," Emily objected. "We don't know her enough. How can we trust her?" Amber protested. "Guys, stop arguing. We can't just stand here and watch Rachel get hurt," Sarah interrupted them.

Suddenly the tentacle lunged for Rachel. Rachel took a step back, trying to dodge the tentacle, but instead fell into the pool when her foot only found the edge of the pool. Before Sarah, Emily and Amber could do anything, the tentacle, having lost its original target, shot towards them. They jumped back just in time to dodge it. Quickly they raised their hands and activated their powers. The tentacle froze in its path as it started to twitch as though it was having a seizure and then exploded.

The girls stood there for a moment, but then remembered Rachel, who was still under water. "Rachel!" the girls exclaimed and hurried to the pool, but stared when they saw Rachel under water. She wasn't wearing her normal clothes anymore, but had a bronze tail and top. She was a mermaid. Rachel was covering her head, seeming to wait for the tentacles next attack, so she hadn't seen Amber, Sarah and Emily.

Before any of them could find their voice, they heard voices coming from the hall, getting louder and louder. The girls looked at each other and nodded. Quickly they got up and hurried to the door. They could hear the voices very clearly now. "Hurry," Sarah hissed as Emily raised her hand and activated her power, freezing the doorknob. Just in time too, since only a split second later, someone tried to open the door.

"What wrong?" someone asked. "The door is stuck. I can't open it," another replied. "Let me try," the first said and tried to open the door, but to no avail. "Maybe the door is locked," the girls heard Coach say as a key was inserted, again to no avail.

"How long is she going to take to transform back?" Amber asked, annoyed and Sarah and Emily shrugged. Unfortunately Amber had been too loud. "Is someone there?" Coach demanded. Silently the girls cursed the good hearing of their teacher. "It's us, Sarah, Emily and Amber," Sarah finally said. "Open the door girls. This isn't funny," Coach commanded. "We didn't do anything. We were looking for you and when we didn't find you out here, we wanted to go back inside, but the door wouldn't open," Amber retorted. "Maybe the door is stuck," Emily suggested.

Just then Rachel came around the corner and asked, "What's wrong?" "The door is stuck," Sarah said. "That's bad," Rachel replied. Just then Emily carefully nudged Amber, who understood what her friend wanted. Amber made sure she stood so that Rachel couldn't see her hand and used her powers to melt the ice inside the door. "Why don't you try running it down," Amber suggested. "Good idea. Get back," Coach replied and the four girls on one side quickly stepped back. Then the door was run down by Coach and some boys.

"We'll have to get a janitor to take a look at that door," Coach muttered, looking at the door, which was now on the ground. The girls could only nod as they followed the rest to the pool. Luckily the tentacle hadn't damaged anything so nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Okay, we have wasted enough time. Warm up by swimming some laps," Coach told them and everyone jumped into the pool, except for of course, Amber, Sarah, Emily and Rachel.

"What's wrong girls? Why aren't you changed yet?" Coach asked. "Actually, Coach, I can't get in," Amber began. "Why?" Coach questioned. "I'm allergic to chlorine," Amber lied, improvising on the spot. "Okay, that explains you, but what about you, Emily? You used to be a very good swimmer back at your old school or at least that's what the reports say," Coach asked. "She didn't want me to feel left out. Same goes for Sarah," Amber answered. "Very well, however I can't let you do nothing while the others swim. So you get a grade, whenever we swim, you will run laps," Coach told them. The girls had to keep the annoyance from there face as Sarah said, "Thank you." "For today sit on the bench and watch, but next lesson you will run," Coach replied and the girls nodded.

"That worked well," Amber said as they sat down. "Well, what if she hadn't bought your lie?" Emily asked. "But she did," Amber retorted. "Amber's right. Besides I think there's something more important to discuss," Sarah said. The girls nodded solemnly and looked over to Rachel, who was talking to Coach. "What do we do with her?" Sarah asked.

**A/N:** With the new moon around the corner, the full moon poses no threat yet. Now that the girls know that Rachel is a mermaid, what will they do? How will they react? Please review.


	5. New Moon

**A/N: Finally I can upload the next chapter. Sorry that it's taking so long, but I'm doing the best I can. Well, here is chapter 5. Enjoy.**

Chapter 5: New Moon

"So what do we do?" Sarah asked Amber and Emily. The girls were in Sarah's house. It was night time. During school they had found out that Rachel was a mermaid. "I have no idea," Amber replied. "At least now we know why none of us were moonstruck, if she was transformed during the last moon," Emily said, causing the others to look at her confused, "Remember what our mothers said. Back then there was also a fourth mermaid. During the full moon when she became a mermaid, they didn't get moonstruck." "That doesn't help us now though," Amber retorted.

"Don't we have to tell her that we're mermaids too?" Emily asked. "True. It's too dangerous to be out there alone, especially with that tentacle running lose," Sarah agreed. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time there was a fourth mermaid, there was a lot of trouble," Amber retorted, "Can we really trust her?" "Rachel isn't some whacked girl like back then. You know Rachel, Amber. You know she is very nice and kind," Sarah objected. "But can we trust her?" Amber repeated, firmly.

"Why can't you believe that some people don't want to harm us?" Emily asked. "Maybe because last time, I nearly killed you because of such a person," Amber retorted, brought up. The memories from back then some times still haunted her. "Rachel isn't Jessica. Jessica was filled with thoughts of revenge. Besides Rachel is in the same situation as us. She's also a mermaid. What would she gain from harming people like herself," Emily snapped. "Stop!" Sarah yelled, interrupting the two, "This won't get us any further. Lets take a break."

Slowly Sarah got up and walked downstairs. There she got a glass of water and went back upstairs. Sarah was so happy Cleo and Lewis were out on a date or they would have been wondering what all the ruckus was about. "Everyone good again?" Sarah asked as she returned. The blondes nodded.

"Good. Now lets try to do something productive," Sarah said as she sat back down on her bed. "Amber. Imagine you were on your own as a mermaid and you were attacked by that tentacle. Wouldn't you want someone you could share your troubles with?" Emily asked, trying to plead to Amber's sympathy. "I guess," Amber agreed. "Besides, if I remember correctly, wasn't the fourth mermaid from back then also interested in Lewis? I think that's the only reason it got so out of hand," Sarah recalled, thoughtfully. "I think it's time to talk to our mothers," Amber sighed. "Why?" Emily and Sarah questioned, confused. "So we know how to treat Rachel when we tell her," Amber smiled, making her friends' faces light up and hug her, "However how much do we tell them?" "We could just say Rachel fell into the pool. That way we won't mention the tentacle," Emily suggested and the others nodded.

Sarah looked at the clock. "It's nearly 8. Mom and Lewis are at the movies. The movie ends at 8:30, so they should be home at around 9," Sarah said as she used her power to make a small ball of water float up and into her mouth. Although it wasn't as quick or efficient as normal drinking, she still found it fun to do. "Show off," Amber smirked, playfully. "Hey, you can make stuff burn," Sarah replied. "Lets call our mothers," Emily interrupted and the girls nodded. They each took out their cell phones and each send a message to their mothers, wanting them to show up at 9 to talk about something urgent.

"So what know? It's another hour before mom and Lewis are back," Sarah asked. "Why not do some homework?" Emily suggested, but immediately Amber intervened, "No way, unless you want me to leave." The girls laughed again. "Why not just look at the stars? Since it's a new moon today, we can see the stars really well," Sarah said, sitting down in front of the window and opened it, "They're so beautiful and it just makes me feel so relaxed looking into that infinity." Emily joined Sarah at the window and agreed, "You're right. There's so many of them." "Really? I just feel so small when I look at it, knowing it goes on for light years and light years," Amber replied. "Don't think of what's beyond the stars you see. Just look at the stars," Sarah said, resting her head on her palms. "Old cultures used to form constellations, you know," Emily added. "I know. Did they have a mermaid?" Amber questioned. "Sadly, no, but maybe we could find one," Emily replied.

Sarah turned around and used her power to make another ball of water float into her mouth. The girls looked out the window a while longer. Suddenly a breeze started to pick up, making the girls shiver. "It's getting cold," Emily said. "Lets close the window," Sarah suggested and after the others agreed, she closed the window. "Too bad. I was really starting to enjoy this, but with a window between it, it's not the same," Amber complained. "Lets put on a jacket and go outside," Sarah said and they agreed.

Outside the wind seemed to have picked up even more in the short time, they hadn't paid attention to it. Emily, who wore her hair open, had to keep on pushing strands out of her face that the wind blew there. Also waves were starting to lap against the dock and the rocks at the edge between ocean and the backyard. "Is it just me or is it getting extremely windy?" Amber questioned. "Not just that. Look," Emily replied, pointing to the horizon. There clouds were quickly coming up in the distance, covering the entire sky. "How strange. It's supposed to be a beautiful night to observe the stars. No wind or clouds," Sarah said. "We should get inside. Those clouds don't look like they're here just to block our view," Amber told them and they hurried inside. Just as they got inside, it started to pour.

"That was close," Sarah sighed. "This is just weird," Emily said, "The forecast didn't say anything about rain, not to mention a downpour." "Hey, even the forecast can be wrong," Amber replied. "But this much?" Emily questioned, just getting a shrug from Amber.

Just then the doorbell rang. The girls exchanged a look, wondering who would ring. Lewis and Cleo had a key, so it wasn't them. Slowly opened the door to reveal Rikki and Emma. Both were drenched, even though they had umbrellas in their hands. "Mom," Amber and Emily said at the same time astonished, "What are you doing here?" "We were worried about you. You're all alone and now this sudden downpour," Emma explained as they stepped inside, careful not to get their daughters wet. Sarah quickly left and reappeared a moment later with towels, handing them to the women, who gratefully excepted them.

"We're fine," Emily finally answered. "That's good," Emma smiled. "By the way what's with the urgent news you had to discuss?" Rikki asked, remembering the sms. "We'll discuss that as soon as mom and Lewis are back, so we don't have to explain it twice," Sarah replied. The mothers nodded.

Just then the front door opened again and Cleo and Lewis came in. Confused Sarah looked at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter to 9. "Why are you here already?" she asked. "You don't want us to come back? Why is everyone here? You throwing a party without us?" Lewis replied, joking. "The wind knocked out the power in the movie theater, so it ended early. Just when it was getting to the good part too," Cleo explained, frowning. "Well, that just means that I get to take you out again, so that we can see the end," Lewis smiled. "You mean you wouldn't go out with me again, if we had seen the end?" Cleo teased, acting hurt. "You know exactly what I mean," Lewis smiled as he wrapped an arm around Cleo and pulled her in to kiss her.

Rikki cleared her throat, bring the two lovebirds back to reality. Blushing, Cleo quickly hung up her coat. "What a storm," she said, trying to change the topic, "Was it supposed to be so bad?" "No," Sarah replied, "But now that everyone is here we can talk." "Right. What did you want to talk about?" Cleo asked. "Lets sit down," Amber suggested and they all sat down around the dinning room table.

"So what's so urgent that you have to hold an emergency meeting?" Rikki questioned, looking at the daughters with interest just like the other adults. "Well, today during gym we were swimming," Sarah slowly began, but quickly added when she saw the horror in the adults' eyes, "Don't worry. We didn't swim. We were able to get around it." "Why didn't you tell us you were swimming? We could have written a note, excusing you," Emma asked. "We wanted it to do it on our own. We don't want to come running to you every time we hit a small speed bump. We need to learn to handle this ourselves," Amber answered. "We understand, but if you have a serious problem come to us," Cleo said and the daughters nodded, even though they were already lying as they agreed to this. "That's what we're doing right now," Emily replied. "Then continue," Rikki told them, wanting to finally know what was going on.

"Just before class our friend Rachel fell into the pool," Sarah continued, but Rikki interrupted, annoyed, "Could we please get to the point?" "We found out Rachel is a mermaid," Amber burst out, also agitated about how slow Sarah was. The adults stared at them for a moment in silence, but all at once exclaimed, "What!" The daughters jumped at their volume. They all started talking at once. Overwhelmed the girls looked at each other. Finally Amber had enough and slammed her hands on the table and yelled, "Quiet!" Immediately everyone shut up, staring at her.

"Thank you. Now one at a time," Amber said, calming down again. "How did this happen?" Rikki inquired before anyone could say anything. "Our guess is that she transformed during the last full moon, since none of use got moonstruck," Emily clarified. "Did you tell her you were mermaids?" Cleo questioned. "That's the reason why we're here. We want to know what to do with her and how we should treat her," Sarah replied. "We remembered that you had a fourth mermaid once too," Emily explained. The mothers nodded, understanding.

"The most important thing is that you make her feel welcome," Cleo told them, looking at Rikki. "Hey, I was right about Charlotte. She was just power hungry," Rikki defended herself. "Whatever. Anyway, if she believes that you truly care for her, you can help her better," Cleo went on. The girls nodded and Emily said, "We get along pretty well, so I think we have her trust." "Also she'll feel scared and insecure. She might at first not listen to you and want to run from the truth, but you have to stay at it. It's the only way to help her," Emma added. "Also go slow, so she doesn't feel swamped," Lewis put in. Again the girls nodded.

"I'll be right back," Sarah said as she got up and went into the kitchen. She took her glass and activated her powers to make a water come out of the kitchen faucet. Sarah waited for a moment, but nothing happened. "What the…," Sarah whispered, confused as she tried it once more, but again to no avail. Her eyes widened. Slowly Sarah stepped into the doorway to the living room, but only so that Amber and Emily could see her. Frantically she waved for them to come. When they noticed her, they stared at her confused. "Thanks. We'll go upstairs now," Amber said quickly, finally understanding what she wanted and got up, leaving their confused parents behind.

"What's the matter?" Emily whispered as they reached Sarah, but instead of an answer they were pulled upstairs and into her room. "What is…," Amber began, but Sarah interrupted, "My powers are gone." "What!" the blondes exclaimed. "What do you mean?" Emily asked. Instead of an answer, Sarah turned to a small aquarium and tried using her powers. Of course nothing happened. "This makes no sense," Amber said, but then thought of something, "What if our powers are gone too?"

Scared Emily and Amber turned to a vase. Slowly Emily raised her hand and activated her power. A moment later the water in the vase froze. She let out a sigh of relief. With more confidence Amber followed suit and the ice melted back to water. Relief flooded her.

"What if I can't turn into a mermaid anymore?" Sarah questioned, starting to panic. "That we can easily check," Amber replied, grabbed the vase and dumped the content over Sarah. "Amber!" Sarah and Emily both exclaimed as Sarah tried to dry herself off. Just then a Sarah turned into a mermaid. Sarah looked at herself, confused. "It seems you only lost you ability to manipulate water," Emily said as Amber used her power to dry Sarah.

"I don't get it. Why is my power the only one that's gone?" Sarah asked, a bit hysterical after she had turned back to normal. "Calm down. I'm sure there's a reason," Emily said, trying to comfort her as she took her in her arm. "Like what?" Sarah muttered. "Maybe you overused your powers," Amber suggested. "I had to stop a tsunami and face Jessica. I doubt making a few water balls will overuse it," Sarah objected, sinking to the ground in front of her bed, feeling as though something important was missing inside her. The blondes looked at their friend unsure of what to do. "What if my powers are gone for good?" it struck Sarah and she felt tears coming into her eyes as the feeling of helplessness flooded her. "Don't say that. I'm sure your powers will be back soon. You just see," Emily said, hugging Sarah. "Yeah. I'm sure in the morning your powers will be back," Amber agreed and also hugged her. Sarah buried her face in their shirts and cried. The girls just sat there on the ground, the sound of the pouring rain and wind hitting against the window the only thing that echoed through the room, except for Sarah's occasional sobs.

Sarah slowly opened her eyes. She could still hear the sounds of the rain and the wind, but not as strong as the night before as she looked at the clock. It was 7. Then she noticed that Emily and Amber both still had their arms around her. She smiled at them. Then everything from the night before came back to her. She had lost her powers. Unsure she looked at her hands. Were her powers still gone? She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she knew the uncertainty would kill her.

Carefully Sarah squeezed her friends' hands and then got up, making sure not to wake them. Like the night before, she stepped in front of the aquarium. Sarah held her breath as she activated her powers. Nothing… Sarah stared at her hands devastated. Without thinking, she ran out off her room and out the backdoor into her yard, tears streaming down her face. The rain and wind had almost completely stopped. She didn't care that she was getting wet as she hurried down the dock and jumped into the water. Sarah transformed as she hit the water. Although she was underwater, she could feel tears in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself and let herself sink to the bottom of the ocean. What was she going to do?

* * *

The slam of the room door caused Amber and Emily to wake up with a start. "What the," Amber groaned, looking at the clock, "It's too early for this kind noise." "Hey, where is Sarah?" Emily questioned, noticing that she was gone. Then they remembered last night. "Oh no," the blondes muttered as they shot up and ran downstairs. Forgotten was their sleepiness. "Sarah!" they called as they went outside. It had stopped raining and the wind was gone as well. "Damn it, where is she?" Emily asked. "Well, where would you go, if you wanted to be alone," Amber replied. The girls' gazes fell on Mako Island in the distance. They nodded and jumped off the dock into the water.

Arriving at the moon pool, they saw Sarah curled up in the sand. "Sarah," Emily said with a sigh of relief, "You had us worried." "Leave me alone," Sarah retorted, not looking at them. "Sarah, we're your friends. We won't leave you," Amber objected. "Even if I tell you that my powers are gone for good?" the brunette demanded, looking at her friends with red eyes and a tear soaked face. The blondes stared at her astonished. "Even then," they replied as they tried to pull themselves out of the water.

"Don't come near me!" Sarah yelled and flung a hand out at them. Suddenly a wind picked up, knocking Amber and Emily back into the water. Startled Sarah pulled her hand back and immediately the wind stopped. She stared at her hand as Emily and Amber surfaced again, also gaping at her. Shaking, Sarah reached her hand out and activated her power. A stream of water playfully lifted itself from the moon pool.

More tears rolled down Sarah's face as she stammered in disbelief, "My powers…" Amber and Emily hoisted themselves out of the water and hugged their friend. "They're back," they whispered as tears of joy ran down all their faces as the sun peaked through the clouds, illuminating the moon pool.

**A/N: **Why did Sarah's powers disappear? How will Rachel react to the girls' confession? Please review.


	6. The Fourth Mermaid

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter is a bit different from the rest. After a review from Marril96, I separated the conversations to make them easier to read. Please tell me if you like it better this way. If it is liked, all future chapters will be written like this. So tell me what you think. Of course, a thanks also goes out to all my other readers and reviewers. Anyway, here is chapter 6. Enjoy.**

Chapter 6: The Fourth Mermaid

After the girls had returned from Mako, they got ready for school. "A unexpected, fierce storm wreaked havoc in the Gold Coast and its surroundings. No people were killed, but several were injured. Trees were uprooted and several cars were turned over. The strong rain flooded a few cellars. Meteorologists are still puzzled by the sudden strong storm…," the radio reporter said, but then Emily turned off the radio, so they could discussed things about Rachel.

"So how do we tell her?" Sarah asked.

"Why not just tell her straight forward?" Amber replied.

"Amber, we don't want to traumatize her. We have to be sensitive. This will change her life. She won't be alone with her secret anymore," Emily told her.

"Rachel isn't a baby. I'm sure, she can take it," Amber retorted.

"I'm with Emily. We should tell her carefully," Sarah agreed.

"Typical," Amber muttered, "You always take Emily's side."

"That is not true," Sarah protested.

"You want me to make you a list?" Amber asked.

"Hey, what is going on here? This early in the morning none the less," Cleo demanded as she came into the kitchen.

"We're discussing how to tell Rachel that we're also mermaids," Sarah answered.

"Let me guess. Amber wants to be direct, while you two want to be more sensitive," Cleo smiled, knowing she has hit the bull's eye, "I'll say it like this. It depends on the person how you should tell them. If we have someone like Rikki or Amber then you should be direct. However as far as I understand, Rachel is more sensitive, so in this case Emily's and Sarah's method would work best. Can you make up now?" Reluctantly Amber nodded. "Trust me, Amber. One day you're direct approach might be better, just not now," Cleo said as she looked at the clock on the wall, "Look how late it is. Get going or you'll be late for school." The girls quickly nodded and hurried off, thanking Cleo as they left. Cleo shook her head as she watched them leave. "This is like watching a rerun of my life," she muttered, amused.

"So when should we tell her?" Sarah asked as they reached the school and slowed down. They had made it with a bit of time to spare.

"I'm guessing before or during school is a stupid idea," Emily replied.

"So after school. Then we just have to ask Rachel, if she has time," Amber concluded.

"If I have time for what?" Rachel questioned, suddenly appearing beside them. Startled the girls jumped to the side.

"You scared us," Emily said, her hand on her heart.

"Maybe she scared you," Amber muttered, acting like Rachel's appearance hadn't surprised her. Emily rolled her eyes annoyed.

"So what should I have time for?" Rachel repeated, not wanting Amber and Emily to get into an argument.

"Right. We wanted to know, if you had time after school today. We want to talk to you," Sarah replied.

"Sure. That would be great," Rachel smiled, "What about?"

"We'll tell you later," Emily answered. Just then the bell rang and the girls hurried to their homeroom.

During lunch Sarah looked at her science book. "Hey, Emily, can you explain this to me? I don't get it," she asked.

"Why not ask Rachel? She's really good at science. Plus her explanations are really easy to understand," Emily suggested.

"Good idea, but where is she?" Sarah agreed.

Just then the Jordan and Ryan came up to them. "Have you seen Rachel?" Sarah asked before the guys could even utter a hello.

Jordan shook his head, but Ryan replied, "I think I saw her with the Coach. I think Rachel was supposed to help her. Why?"

"Thanks," Sarah said as the girls got up and left. Jordan and Ryan looked at each other.

"Are they ignoring us?" Jordan asked.

"Not sure," Ryan replied. Just then Sarah and Amber came back to them and gave their respective boyfriend a kiss. Then they quickly hurried back to Emily, who stood a few yards away, smiling as she shook her head.

"I'm guessing that's a no," Ryan said.

When the girls reached the gym, they saw no one. "Maybe she's already done," Amber suggested.

"Then she should have come towards us earlier," Emily objected.

"Well she isn't here," Amber retorted.

"Why not try the pool?" Sarah proposed and the blondes nodded.

They walked to the pool, when suddenly heard someone yell, "Leave me alone!" Rachel. Quickly they hurried to the end of the corridor and looked around the corner.

"Look. A tentacle," Emily said and then she saw Rachel as a mermaid directly in front of it next to the pool, "And Rachel."

"Does this seem familiar to anyone?" Amber asked.

"This is not the time for jokes, Amber. We have to help her," Sarah hissed.

"But we haven't talked to her yet," Emily retorted.

"Well, no time like the present," Amber replied and hurried towards Rachel and the tentacle.

"Amber," Emily whispered, but Amber didn't listen. Briefly looking after Amber, Emily and Sarah followed suit.

"Get out of the way!" Amber ordered. Rachel turned to see the three. In horror Rachel looked from them to the tentacle. Amber, Sarah and Emily were about to use their powers when the tentacle suddenly turned away and left. Astonished they stared at each other. Just then Rachel turned back to normal.

"This-This isn't what it looks like," Rachel stammered, obviously completely overtax with the entire situation and the belief that her secret had just been revealed. She was shaking like a leaf.

"Get a hold of yourself," Emily said, taking a step towards Rachel, but she backed away.

"Forget this!" Rachel exclaimed, getting up and ran away.

"Rachel!" Sarah called after her, but she was gone.

"Well, that was rude. She didn't even thank us for stepping in to save her," Amber said.

"Don't you have any other thoughts than that?" Emily asked, annoyed, "Rachel is obviously confused and scared. Plus she thinks her secret has been revealed."

"Pretty much everything happened what we should have prevented," Sarah summed it up.

"Then we have to go after her," Amber replied and the others nodded.

They ran through the school, searching everywhere for Rachel. Luckily it was still lunch time, so that almost nobody was in the hall.

"Where is she?" Amber muttered, annoyed.

"She couldn't have gotten far," Emily replied.

"Well, apparently she did," Sarah said.

"Maybe we should always have water bottles with us," Amber suggested, causing them to stop and look at her.

"Water bottles? What does this have to do with our current situation?" Emily asked.

"I was just thinking. What if we ever get into a situation where we have no water? We would be in trouble," Amber explained.

"We're in the Gold Coast. We live next to the ocean. There is water in the sewers. Every few houses there is a pool. I hardly think we'll ever have that problem. Besides this isn't part of our problem right now," Emily retorted, annoyed.

"Guys," Sarah interrupted them, "Stop it."

Just then Jordan and Ryan came up to them, who just stared at the out of breath, arguing girls. "Is everything alright?" Ryan asked.

"Please tell me you've seen Rachel?" Sarah replied Jordan and Ryan, trying to get back on track.

"What's up with you looking for Rachel? Is she about to die?" Jordan demanded.

"Well not yet, but it might lead to that," Amber snapped and the boys gaped at them.

"Rachel is a mermaid like us. We wanted to tell her we're mermaids too, but we had to step in to save Rachel from a tentacle. Before we could tell her we were also mermaids, we saw her as a mermaid, she ran away and now we're looking for her," Emily explained and now the boys gawked at them like they were crazy.

"So have you seen her?" Sarah repeated and Ryan shook his head, "Great. We've checked every place in this school and we can't find her anywhere."

"Well, where would you go, if you thought your secret was revealed?" Ryan asked. The girls stared at each other. Emily even hit herself on her forehead. It was so obvious.

"Mako," they said in unison.

"We got to go now," Sarah told them.

"But what about school?" Emily objected.

"What did you just say. This isn't part of our problem right now," Amber smirked.

"Fine," Emily retorted, grudgingly.

"Thanks, Ryan," Sarah said, gave him a hug and then hurried off with the others.

As they were hurrying out of the school, they ran into Heath. "Hey Amber," he smiled.

"Heath," Amber growled, "I don't have time for you. Not now, not ever."

"I just wanted to ask, if you would want to got with me to the basketball game tomorrow morning in the gym?" Heath asked.

"I think I would rather die a slow, painful death before I go anywhere with you. Why not ask Jordan, if he'll allow me to go with you? If he says yes, I'll go," Amber retorted, knowing Jordan would never let Heath closer than 3 feet, "Now I got to go."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Heath said. Amber bite back a remark and let herself be pulled away by her friends.

Arriving at Mako, they found it deserted. "She isn't here," Sarah said.

"Great. Now what?" Amber asked.

"We check the beaches, her house and a few cafes. School is already over so we have all the time in the world," Emily suggested.

After having checked all the locations without success, the girls returned to their respective home. Sarah sunk onto a kitchen chair. She was exhausted. "You look tired," Lewis said, coming into the kitchen and handed her a glass of juice.

"Thanks. Yeah, I am beat. We spent the entire afternoon looking for Rachel," Sarah replied.

"Looking for her? What happened?" Lewis asked. Sarah sighed and told him everything, except for the tentacle.

"I see. You did the right thing though. You have to explain it to her as soon as possible," Lewis told her and Sarah nodded. They sat there in silence for a bit and then Lewis questioned, "Sarah, are you home tomorrow evening?"

"Tomorrow evening? Yeah, I think so," Sarah replied, "Why?"

"No reason," Lewis answered, quickly and opened the newspaper.

Confused Sarah looked at Lewis. He was being weird. No wait, he was always weird, so he was being Lewis. Just then something caught Sarah's eye. It was the weather report. Quickly she snatched the newspaper away from Lewis, who protested, and stared at it. It showed the time when the moon rose and set again. Today the moon would rise at 8:10 PM and set about 15 minutes after 7 AM. Sarah wasn't a genius at science, but it made sense.

"Thanks Lewis," Sarah said, quickly, got up and left.

"Welcome," Lewis muttered, confused as he stared after her. Upstairs in her room, Sarah grabbed her phone and dialed her friends' numbers.

* * *

Amber flopped on her bed exhausted. Silently she cursed Rachel. Why did she have to run away? Her mood didn't lift, knowing she would have to look for Rachel again.

Just then there was a knock on the door and her dad came in. "Hey, sweetie. You look tired. Is school that hard?" Zane asked.

"Yeah," Amber lied.

"Listen, are you free tomorrow afternoon?" Zane inquired.

"Well, I'm not sure," Amber replied, "Why?"

"I would like you to come to one of my business meetings tomorrow since you don't have school," he told her.

"What! No way!" Amber exclaimed.

"Please. It's a very important deal. Plus the son of the boss will be there too," Zane threw in.

"Dad, in case you haven't noticed, I have a boyfriend, who I'm happy with," Amber retorted.

"I already told him that you would be coming. You're going and that final," Zane told her, annoyed and stormed out of the door. With an outcry, Amber threw a pillow against the door.

Just then her phone rang. It was Sarah. "There'd better be a really good reason why you called me up or you're through," Amber snapped, picking up her phone.

"You're in a good mood," Emily noticed, who had already been added to make a three way call.

"I don't want to talk about it," Amber barked back.

"I've figured it out," Sarah interrupted the bickering.

"You figured out where Rachel is?" the blondes asked, surprised.

"No. What happened to my powers yesterday or at least halfway, I think," Sarah replied.

"What?" the blondes questioned in unison.

"It has to do with the new moon. It rose shortly before my powers disappeared and set shortly before my powers came back," Sarah explained.

"So you're saying, the new moon took your powers?" Amber asked.

"It makes sense, but why now? I mean this has never happened before," Emily questioned.

"Wait a minute. That storm… It started when Sarah used her powers and ended around the time the moon set. Plus it's Sarah's powers, wind and rain," Amber realized.

"You mean my powers went out of control?" Sarah asked, meekly, remembering the damage they had seen that day, "All that damage… Was my fault."

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known this would have happened and now that we know we won't let it happen again," Emily replied.

"Yeah," Sarah muttered, still taken back.

"Wait a minute. Wasn't Rachel interested in the Science club?" Emily recalled.

"Yeah, why?" Amber replied.

"The science club is meeting tomorrow morning at school. Maybe we can catch Rachel there," Emily suggested.

"Great idea. Lets give it a try," Sarah agreed. They ended the call and went to sleep.

The next day Amber was just about to head out the door, when her father came up to her. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Don't worry. I'll be back in time for your stupid meeting," Amber replied and slammed the door shut behind her. Outside Sarah and Emily were already waiting.

"It seems your mood hasn't changed," Emily said.

"It had, but now it's back to the way it was yesterday," Amber retorted, "Lets go and find ourselves a mermaid."

Arriving at school, Sarah asked, "Wait, how do we find the science club? We have no idea where they meet."

"Easy. Ask the next nerd that passes past you," Amber replied.

"Amber, not every science club member is a nerd," Emily objected.

Just then a guy with glasses and lots of acne in his face walked past them."Excuse me. Do you know where the science club meets?" Amber asked.

"In Mr. Martin's classroom. Why? Do you want to join us?" the guy replied.

"No," Amber said quickly and walked on. "See what I mean," Amber muttered when they were out of reach. Emily only shook her head in disbelief.

Walking through the hallway, Sarah wondered, "There sure are a lot of people here for a school free day. They can't all be here for club practice, can they?"

"The basketball game," Amber remembered, "They must all be here for that. They should be letting people into the gym soon."

Reaching Mr. Martin's classroom, they saw some people in it, but no Rachel. "I guess I was wrong," Emily said, clearly frustrated.

"Lets go," Sarah sighed and turned around, but then froze. A few yards away stood Rachel. "Rachel," Sarah muttered, but Rachel already turned on her heel and ran.

"Wait Rachel! We have to talk to you!" Emily called after her, but Rachel didn't stop running.

Quickly the girls pursued Rachel, but lost her after a while. "Great, we lost her," Sarah gasped as they tried to catch their breath.

"You'd think that all the running we did with the Coach would improve our stamina," Amber replied.

Just then they heard a door slam shut. "The gym," Emily muttered, recognizing the sound, "That's where she has to be. Lets go." Groaning they ran off again.

Slowly they opened the door to the gym and crept inside. They could hear voices from the locker rooms, but for now they were safe. On the opposite side of the gym Rachel was cornered by a tentacle. Repeatedly the tentacle lunged at her, but she was barely able to dodge it. "Is it just me or does Rachel get attacked more often than there are stars in the sky?" Amber asked.

"We have no time for this," Emily hissed, "We got to help. Sarah, put a water shield around Rachel."

Sarah raised her hand and concentrated, but then replied, "I can't. There's no water here."

"What do you mean there's no water here? We live next to the ocean. Plus the tentacle must have come from somewhere too," Emily asked.

"The only water here that I could get is in the locker rooms and they're being used," Sarah explained.

"This can't be happening," Emily muttered.

"Maybe I can help," Amber smiled as she pulled out a bottle of water out of her small backpack, "Who said we won't ever have a water problem?" Amber grinned at her in satisfaction.

"Okay, okay, you were right," Emily gave in.

"Sarah, make the shield. Emily freeze the doors. I'll keep the tentacle busy," Amber told them as she passed the bottle to Sarah and they nodded.

Just then the tentacle lunged at Rachel and she wouldn't be able to dodge. "Hey! Leave her alone!" someone yelled and the tentacle stopped in its tracks, bubbling a bit. Rachel turned to see Amber, Emily and Sarah.

"Get back," Amber, who had her hand pointed in a fist at the tentacle, ordered, but Rachel only stared at them in horror, "Get back!" When Rachel still didn't move, Amber pulled her back, but the tentacle freed itself from Amber's magic and lunged at Rachel. Rachel cried out, however Sarah moved her hand and water covered Rachel like a shield, causing it to propel of the shield. The shield wavered, but held.

"What the…," Rachel muttered as she saw her friends step in front of her between her and the tentacle.

"Ready?" Emily asked and the other two nodded. They raised their hands and activated their powers. The tentacle lung forward once again, but shortly before it would have hit them, it stopped, twitching like crazy and then exploded. Water covered the entire gym.

With a sigh of relief, they turned back to Rachel, who stared at them wide eyed. "Are you alright?" Sarah asked as she let the water shield drop.

"How?" Rachel stammered.

"Are you alright?" Emily repeated and Rachel nodded, not being able to formulate sentences. Hesitantly Rachel took the hand Emily held out for her.

"We'll explain later. Right now we have to get out of here," Amber told them, hearing footsteps and banging on the frozen doors. Sarah and Emily nodded and pulled Rachel to her feet.

Quickly they hurried to a side exit. At the exit, Amber turned around one last time and balled her hand. The doors unfroze and the water turned to steam, covering any traces of the incident and their exit. Outside Rachel stared at her saviors. "What… What happened in there?" she stammered, confused, "What did you do? What are you?"

**A/N: **Finally the girls can talk to Rachel. How will Rachel react and how much does Rachel already know? What will happen at the meeting Amber has to attend? Please review.


	7. Confessions

**A/N: Okay, the good new first. Now that my exams are over and summer vacation is nearing, I should be able to upload more regularly, like this one. As of now the conversations will be split up, since many like it better. Here is chapter 7. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7: Confessions

The girls stared at Rachel, who sank onto a bench on campus. "What do you mean, what we are? We're mermaids, just like you," Amber retorted.

"No, no. I can't do whatever you did," Rachel protested. Sarah, Emily and Amber looked at each other. Was it possible?

"Rachel, could it be you don't know about your powers?" Emily asked, carefully.

"I don't have any powers," Rachel replied, weakly.

Sarah looked at her for a moment and then it came to her. "You're scared, right?" Sarah questioned, but Rachel didn't answer, "You're scared of what happened to you. You're suddenly different and you can't find yourself in the confusion, right?"

Rachel looked into Sarah's eyes. Sarah knew that look all too well. The look of fear and confusion. She kneeled down beside her. "We won't harm you, Rachel. We're friends. Let us help you. We can explain everything you," Sarah told her.

Rachel stared at them for a moment, but then nodded. "We should discuss this somewhere else," Amber put in and the others nodded.

A while later they arrived at Sarah's house and went to her room. "So where do we start?" Sarah asked.

"Good question. Rachel, how much do you know?" Emily asked, looking at the brunette.

"Not much. Just that I turn into a mermaid when I touch water. Why, I have no idea," Rachel told them.

"The why is pretty simple. During the last full moon you were on Mako Island in the dormant volcano, right? You fell into a pool of water," Amber questioned. Surprised Rachel looked at them.

"Yeah, how did you know? I wanted to see the stars and what better place than Mako, where there is no artificial light," Rachel replied.

"You see, if you are in that pool of water, the moon pool as we call it, while a full moon is overhead you turn into a mermaid," Emily explained.

"But why?" Rachel asked.

"That we're not sure of either. It's just magic," Sarah answered with a shrug.

Rachel looked at them for a moment, but then it spilled out of her, "What did you do back then in the gym and what is that tentacle?"

"Listen, could we start with the powers? I have to go soon. My dad is forcing me to go to one of his business meetings and I got to get ready soon," Amber asked.

"Why do you have to go to a business meeting?" Emily asked.

"Don't ask," Amber growled and the others gladly obliged, not wanting an argument right now.

"Okay, Rachel, have you noticed that since you have become a mermaid that water acts weird around you?" Sarah questioned, turning her attention to the task at hand.

"Weird?" Rachel repeated, confused.

"Like this," Sarah said and used her power to make the water in a vase rise in a tentacle form. Rachel jumped back, fear clear on her face.

"You! So you attacked me!" Rachel exclaimed and bolted for the door.

"Rachel, wait!" the girls called and hurried after her. Sarah let go of her control over the water and it dumped all over Amber, while Emily was able to grab Rachel before she ran out the door.

"Let me go!" she demanded, struggling to free herself. Sarah also grabbed a hold of Rachel, helping Emily.

"Rachel, calm down. Do you honestly think we would hurt you?" Sarah asked, forcing Rachel to look into her eyes. Rachel's terrified eyes stared into Sarah's soft eyes.

"No," Rachel finally muttered, letting her limbs go weak. Slowly Emily and Sarah let go of Rachel

"Where's Amber?" Sarah asked, looking around the room.

"Ahm," Amber cleared her throat, making the girls look at the mermaid.

"Sorry," Sarah smiled, sheepishly. Frowning Amber balled her hand, using her magic to dry herself. Soon she stood in front of them again.

"How is that possible? Don't you have to be dry before you turn back to normal?" Rachel asked confused.

"When you become a mermaid you get a power. I have the powers to manipulate water and wind. I guess my demonstration wasn't the best. Meanwhile Amber has the ability to boil things and create lightning and fire. Therefore she is able to dry herself off quickly," Sarah explained.

"What about Emily?" Rachel asked, intrigued, turning to her.

"I have the power to freeze things and create snow and such," Emily told her and froze the water in the vase.

"I see. So I should as have one of these powers," Rachel concluded and the others nodded. Rachel stepped towards the vase and stretched her hand out, trying to make the water do something. She made several different hand gestures, but nothing worked. "I guess I don't have a power," she sighed, flopping down on Sarah's bed.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find your power soon," Sarah comforted her, sitting down next to her.

"Listen, I have to go. I'll be back some time this afternoon. If I'm not back by tonight, call a search team, cause I either killed myself or my dad for dragging me there," Amber told them.

"I'm sure you're overreacting. It won't be that bad, you'll see," Emily replied.

"You don't know my dad's business meetings," Amber retorted, think of the few times she had been along as a child, "Bye." The other waved good bye and with that Amber left. They looked at each other. None of them could imagine Amber at a serious business meeting.

"Say, did you ever go swimming in the ocean?" Sarah asked.

"No, I was too scared of what I turned into when I touched the water. I tried to avoid water as much as possible," Rachel answered.

"It's the most amazing thing," Sarah smiled.

"Why don't we go now? We don't have anything to do anyway," Emily suggested and Sarah nodded. They looked at Rachel, who hesitated. Then she nodded, a smile spreading across her face.

* * *

Amber eyed the giant hotel from her dad's car. It was a 5 star hotel. She didn't understand why it had to be such a fancy place when they would probably only use one room anyway. In disgust she looked down at herself. She was wearing a black designer suit. She hated wearing such formal clothing. She had few such expensive clothes and those she usually kept in the deepest and darkest corner of her closet, only getting them out when she had no other choice, such as right now.

"Why don't you at least try to look happy," her father suggested.

"Cause I'm not," Amber growled, "Tell me again why I'm coming along."

"Because I asked you to," Zane replied.

"No, you forced me to come," Amber corrected him, agitated.

"Whatever. Mr. White wanted to meet my daughter," Zane told her.

"Mr. White? Is that the guy you're meeting?" Amber asked as they got out of the car and the valet took the key. Zane nodded as they entered the hotel, making their way to the reception.

"My name is Bennett. I'm supposed to meet Mr. White," Zane told the receptionist, who checked her books.

"Ah, Mr. Bennett, yes. Follow me. Mr. White is already here," she said and gestured for them to follow her. They followed her into an elevator to the second floor and down a hallway. She stopped in front of one of the many doors and told them, "Here it is. Please don't hesitate to call, if you need anything." Zane thanked her and she left. With one last check if they looked presentable, they opened the door.

The room was a decent size and a round conference table in the middle. Big windows gave a beautiful view of the city. A man Zane's age came up to them with a pleasant smile. "Ah, Mr. Bennett, what a pleasure," the man, probably Mr. White, greeted Zane, shaking his hand.

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. White," Zane replied. Amber was ready to leave at that moment. The fake sweetness in this room was going to kill her.

"And this must be your daughter, Amber. What a beautiful, young lady," Mr. White told Amber, also extending his hand to her.

"Thank you, Mr. White. My father said many kind things about you," Amber lied, putting on her fake sweet smile. She knew how she needed to act.

"Let me introduce you to my son," Mr. White said and stepped aside to give view to his son. Amber froze, when she saw him and it took all her self control not to do something that she would later get in a whole lot of trouble for.

"You," she smiled, her teeth clenched together.

"Hello Amber. We know each other," the boy told his father and he shook her hand. It was Heath.

"Isn't that great. I'm sure you'll get along splendidly. Lets get seated," Mr. White suggested and the elder men sat down at the conference table, while Amber and Heath still shook hands, well Amber was more trying to squeeze his hand to death.

"Why does it not surprise me that you would stoop this low," Amber muttered through her gritted teeth, glaring at him. They kept their voices down so their dads wouldn't notice.

"Everything is fair in love and war. I told you yesterday that you would see me today," Heath smiled.

"Well, this is war. You can force me to come to as many business meetings as you want, I won't ever, ever, like you," Amber hissed and finally broke the handshake so she could sit down next to Zane. "This day can't get worse," she thought to herself.

* * *

"So how did you like swimming?" Emily asked as they walked up to her house.

"It was amazing. The water was so blue and the fish were so pretty," Rachel smiled, "The dolphins were so friendly. I didn't know they were that playful. I always thought they were a bit scary."

"Scary? Dolphins are one of the most friendly and intelligent animals there are, but I can only agree that the water is amazing," Sarah replied.

"I can hardly believe I spend so long being scared of the water. I almost feel stupid," Rachel confessed as they entered the house into the kitchen.

At the table sat Rikki, Cleo and Emma, who looked up at them. "Hey mom, this is…," Emily began, but was interrupted by their mothers jumping up and yelling, "Charlotte!" Startled the girls jumped back.

"No, this is Rachel," Sarah corrected them, being the first of the girls to regain her composure.

"But she sure looks a lot like her," Cleo muttered and the other mothers nodded.

"But think about it, Cleo. It can't be Charlotte. That would mean that she hasn't aged a day since back then," Emma objected.

"Who knows. It's not a crime to look like that, you know," Rikki added with a shrug.

"But exactly like her," Cleo protested. Emily and Sarah looked at their mothers confused.

"Excuse me, but how do you know my mother's name?" Rachel asked, softly, causing everyone's eyes to turn to her.

"What!" the mothers exclaimed.

"You are Charlotte Watsford's daughter?" Rikki demanded. Intimidated Rachel nodded.

"Mom, this is Rachel, the fourth mermaid we told you about. Rachel, these are our mothers," Sarah introduced them, not knowing what else to do.

"Your mothers know that you are mermaids?" Rachel asked.

"It's a long story. In short, they were also mermaids a long time ago," Emily explained, shortly.

"We're not that old," Emma objected, giving her daughter a look.

"I see, but how do you know my mom?" Rachel questioned.

"I'm not sure that's a story for now," Cleo began, but Rachel repeated, "Please, tell me, how do you know my mother?" With a sigh, the mothers indicated for them to sit down at the table.

After Cleo, Emma and Rikki had finished telling them the story, they just sat there in silence. Waiting for Rachel, who hung her head low, to say something. They looked at her. Finally Rachel said, "I see. I know it can't compensate for what happened back then, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what my mother did to you. My mother can overreact at times. She went too far back then."

"You handled it well. It's not easy to hear this about your own mother," Emma replied, softly.

"It seems being a mermaid runs in the family," Cleo added, trying to cheer up Rachel.

"I guess," Rachel agreed, half heartedly.

"Wait, maybe you can help us. Rachel can't seem to activate her powers. Do you remember what gesture Charlotte had?" Emily asked.

Cleo looked down, almost a bit afraid as she recalled the memories where she had been assaulted by Charlotte and then answered, "Yes. Her gesture was pretty much the same as mine, except upside down. You have to concentrate on the power within you." With a nod, Rachel turned to a glass of water and did as Cleo instructed. For a moment nothing happened, but then the glass began to shake and the water exploded out the top, splashing everywhere. Emily and Sarah were barely able to avoid the water, while their mothers were hit full on.

Quickly Rachel stopped her powers. "I'm sorry," she said, shocked as the mothers tried to get some of the water off.

"It was a nice first try," Cleo replied.

"Why don't we practice upstairs?" Emily suggested.

"Good idea, but why did you mention the…," Rachel began, but Sarah quickly covered her mouth and interrupted, "Lets go." Emily and Sarah pulled Rachel after them upstairs, leaving their slightly confused mothers.

"Why don't your mothers know about the tentacles?" Rachel asked.

"We want to try to figure stuff out on our own. We don't really know anything about the tentacles. They just suddenly started attacking us and we have no idea where they came from or what they want," Emily explained.

"Plus, our mothers told us their entire past. They never mentioned a tentacle, so it's impossible for them to know anything," Sarah added and Rachel nodded, thoughtfully.

"That was weird," Rikki said, finally breaking the silence after the girls had abruptly left.

"Yeah. Who would have ever thought that the girl, who turned out to be another mermaid, was Charlotte's daughter," Emma agreed.

"True, but on the other hand, she's nothing like Charlotte. She's so polite. She truly seems to be dependant on our daughters. I don't think a repeat of back then will happen," Cleo told them.

"Also she seems to only have one power, though she is quite strong," Emma pointed out.

Cleo nodded and replied, "I think so too. For her first time she definitely had quite some strength."

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. We only saw that girl for a few minutes. It could all be an act for all we know. Plus remember, Charlotte only later discovered the rest of her powers," Rikki objected.

"Why can't you ever think positive?" Emma asked. "Why can't you think negative for once?" Rikki retorted.

"Where was Amber?" Cleo inquired, hoping to stop a fight.

"She's at a business meeting with Zane," Rikki answered.

"Willingly?" Emma questioned, surprised.

"Of course not. Zane forced her. I'm just glad it's her and not me he took along," Rikki told them. Emma and Cleo shared a secret smile. There was no way that could do well for long.

* * *

Amber was ready to bash in her head. They had been talking for over a hour. Although she had kept herself busy by eating some of the small, fancy snacks which had been ordered, there was nothing else to do. She had stopped paying attention a few minutes into the meeting. Heath kept looking at her, though he did seem to be partially paying attention to what was being said. Mr. White and her father seemed completely into their conversation, not noticing anything.

Finally she had had enough and said, "Please, excuse me. I have to use the bathroom."

After she was excused, she quickly fled from the room. Outside the room it took all her self control to not punch the wall to release some anger. Not that anyone would have seen that, cause it seemed that all the other rooms were empty and no one else was there. Amber headed for the bathroom just so that she could get away from her torture.

After Amber came back out, she ran into Heath. "Are you following me?" she snapped, walking back towards the conference room.

"Am I not allowed to use the bathroom?" he replied, following her.

"I'm not stupid, Heath. I noticed that you were staring at me half the time. I didn't want to cause a ruckus so I said nothing," Amber told him, annoyed as they walked past a cart with a pitch of water on it.

"Thank god, Jordan isn't here or this would go completely out of control," Amber thought.

"You just can't admit that you like me," Heath said.

Amber turned around on her heel and was about yell at him, when she froze. Just behind Heath a tentacle rose from the pitcher of water. "Oh no," it shot through her head.

"Is something wrong?" Heath asked when he saw her expression. He was about to turn around, but Amber grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look at her.

"Why don't you go back to the meeting? I'll be right there," Amber suggested, putting on her most seductive smile and let her hand run over his chest. She had to fight back the urge to throw up.

Although a bit confused by her behavior, Heath nodded and walked off, saying, "See you there, sweetie."

With Heath gone, Amber turned her attention to the tentacle, which didn't waste any time and lunged at her. She jumped to the side and activated her magic. The tentacle stopped in its track, bubbles appearing on its surface, but then it shook itself, which seemed to break Amber's magic over it. Again it attacked her.

"Damn it. What do I do? Can't beat this thing on my own. Emily, Sarah and I can only defeat that thing together. There's no way they'll make it in time, at least not to in time to save me from dying," Amber thought as she dodged the tentacle, who continued to attack her.

"Why are you so big? You came from a pitcher of water!" Amber demanded, annoyed.

Just then she saw a glass door leading to a small balcony. That gave Amber an idea. She jumped out of the way from an attack and used her magic to melt the glass. "I hope they have a good insurance," Amber muttered, amused, but was quickly pulled back to her situation when the tentacle lashed out at her.

To avoid a direct hit Amber dropped to the side, causing the sleeve of her blazer to rip open. "Look what you did. This was expensive," she complained. The tentacle didn't care and went for the next attack.

Amber quickly got up and hurried onto the balcony through the destroyed glass. While looking to see where her attacker was, Amber raised her hand to the sky and balled it.

"Hurry, hurry," she muttered, anxiously as the tentacle zoomed towards her and the sky started to turn black with storm clouds.

Eying the tentacle, she counted silently, "3,2,1, now!" On now, Amber jumped out of the way of the tentacle, which sped past her, and she clenched her fist as tight as she could. A split second later a bolt of lightning along with thunder came from the clouds and hit the tentacle. The tentacle shook with the intensity of the electricity and then exploded, covering Amber in water.

"Great," Amber muttered and fell over the threshold of the door as she turned into a mermaid.

She took a few deep breaths to catch her breath. Amber was about to dry herself, when she heard someone call, "Amber!"

Just as she recognized the voice, the owner already saw her. It was her dad. His eyes widened as he realized what she looked at her.

"Don't freak out, dad. I can explain this," Amber said, calmly.

"Amber… You're… a mermaid," he stammered. Before she replied, she decided to dry herself.

As Amber got up, he muttered, "You look just like her."

"I know I look like mom," Amber replied, knowing who he meant even without him saying it.

That was a mistake. "You know your mother was a mermaid? Does she know about this?" Zane asked, clearly enraged and when Amber didn't reply he continued, "So everyone but me knew? You must have laughed your head off at my ignorance!"

That snapped Amber. "Don't get mom involved in this! She didn't tell you, cause I didn't want to tell you! I knew you would act like this!" Amber yelled.

That seemed to get Zane thinking. Finally he sighed, "I'm sorry. It's your secret to tell. I shouldn't have acted like that."

"I was going to tell you, I just wasn't sure when," Amber admitted.

"I see. So will you tell me on the way home?" Zane asked.

"Is the meeting over?" Amber replied and Zane nodded, "Sure." Zane put his arm around his daughter and they walked off.

* * *

Meanwhile Rachel was practicing along with Emily and Sarah. She had made incredible progress. She was already able to make small water tentacles and able to get a small breeze blowing. "If you keep this up, you'll have your power mastered soon," Sarah said.

"You think?" Rachel replied and the other two nodded.

"Try making a bigger tentacle," Emily suggested and Rachel nodded. She activated her power and made water rise from a glass.

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Come in, mom," Emily said, not turning around.

The door opened and the person replied, "Actually, it's me. What the…" All three girls turned around shocked. In the door stood, Ash, Emily's dad. Not concentrating on the water anymore, it escaped Rachel's magic and was going to fall on Emily. Quickly she put up her hand and froze the water. Obviously her father had seen everything.

"Emily, it can't be… Are you a mermaid?" he finally managed to ask.

Emily couldn't meet his eyes and replied, "I'm sorry, dad. I didn't want to lie to you, but I didn't know to tell you."

"Does your mother know about this?" Ash questioned and Emily nodded, "Why doesn't that surprise me? Will you explain to me how this happened?" Emily nodded with a smile, glad that he wasn't mad.

"Rachel and I will wait downstairs," Sarah said and the brunettes walked out of the room.

A while later Emily and Ash came downstairs. While Ash went to Emma and seemed to be quietly talking, Emily walked over to Sarah. "Where's Rachel?" she asked, not seeing her.

"She had to go home," Sarah explained. Just then the sky turned dark outside.

"What's going on? Wasn't it supposed to be really nice all day?" Sarah asked. Suddenly a single bolt of lightning flashed and thunder followed. Slowly the sky turned blue again.

"That was weird. I have a bad feeling," Emily muttered.

"Amber?" Sarah questioned and Emily just nodded.

A while later Amber came into the house, accompanied by Zane, who went over to Rikki and Cleo. Rikki and Zane seemed to be having a more heated discussion. "What did we miss?" Emily asked.

"Let see. The most boring meeting in the world, Heath annoying me to death, my dad now knows we're mermaids, oh and of course, a tentacle attacking me, which I electrocuted," Amber replied.

"What!" Sarah exclaimed hushed.

"With the lightning bolt?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, since water conducts electricity well. What did I miss?" Amber questioned.

"My dad found out we're mermaids. Apparently Rachel has the same powers as Sarah and she's the daughter of the fourth mermaid from our mothers' time, who tried to kill them," Emily replied.

"Okay," Amber said, nodding her head.

"I think we have a lot to talk about," Sarah stated and the blonds agreed.

Just then Cleo looked outside and asked, "What is Lewis doing out there?" Everyone turned to look at the backyard and sure enough Lewis was kneeling at the end of the dock, looking at the water in the setting sunlight.

"I think he finally lost his marbles," Rikki replied.

Cleo got up and went outside. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Quickly Lewis got up and looked at her. "Come here," he said and she complied.

"What is it?" Cleo questioned.

"I have something to ask you," Lewis began and tapped his leg with his hand twice. Cleo was about to ask why he was tapping, when she heard splashes coming from the ocean. She turned to the ocean, where Mako Island and the ocean were beautifully cloaked in the sunset. Then Cleo saw what was making the noise. It was a dolphin, who seemed to be pulling something. Taking a closer look, Cleo realized that it Kylie, Ronnie's daughter, who was swimming towards them.

"Kylie," she muttered, but then saw what she was pulling behind her. It was a heart made of red roses with white roses that spelled, "C+L."

"Cleo, I would have asked you this years ago, if I had had the chance. The years I spend without you were torture. You are the most amazing person that I ever met and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Lewis told her and then got down on one knee, while he opened a small box to reveal a simple, silver ring with a small diamond in it, "Cleo, will you marry me?"

Cleo just stood there for a moment her eyes wide and her hands clasped over her mouth, but finally replied, "Yes, yes I do." After Lewis had put the ring on her, they kissed.

Loud applause broke them apart. They looked to the house to see the others that had been there clapping. Then Sarah hurried to her mother and hugged both her and her future dad. "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. So that's what you were planning, Lewis," she said. The other quickly followed with congratulations.

**A/N: **And they lived happily ever after. The End. No just kidding. Of course, the story will go on. Will the tranquility last? Is Emma's and Cleo's or Rikki's impression of Rachel correct? Hopefully the next one will be more regularly. Please review.


	8. Odd Occurrences

**A/N: Finally summer vacation! Now I can spend my time writing and thinking about my chapters. As always thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. StalkerAngel gave me the idea to put a recap of the previous chapter before the chapter, since I do take a bit of time uploading and I can understand if you forget what exactly happened. Thanks for that. Anyway here is chapter 7. Enjoy!**

_Previously... Rachel has been included into our trios group. Cleo, Emma and Rikki meet Rachel and it turns out that Rachel is Charlotte's daughter, but she only has the ability of Sarah. The mothers aren't sure yet what to make of Rachel. At the end Lewis asked Cleo to marry him and of course, she accepted. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 8: Odd Occurrences

About 2 weeks had passes since our trio had become a quartet. Rachel had been making steady progress and everyone was happy. Cleo and Lewis were busy with wedding preparations, happier than ever. Everything was fine right now, or was it?

_The snow was coming down hard. Everything surrounding Emily was white. _

_"Wait, snow?" she thought, "It hardly ever snows here." It was snowing harder and harder, until Emily could see nothing in font of her. _

_"Be careful, Emily," a voice rang through the blizzard, somehow managing to be louder than the wind. _

_"Be careful? Of what? The tentacles? Who are you?" Emily yelled, but nobody answered._

Emily shot upright in her bed, breathing hard. "That was strange," she thought.

"Emily, get up. You'll be late for school," Emma called up from the staircase.

"I'm up!" Emily replied and quickly jumped out of bed.

After getting dressed and eating breakfast, Emily hurried outside where she met Amber and Sarah. "I thought I would never see the day you are late to go to school," Amber teased as they walked off.

"You would be late too, if you had such a weird dream," Emily replied.

"Weird dream? What about?" Sarah asked.

"I'm not sure. I was standing, I guess, in a blizzard or something. It was snowing really hard. I wasn't able to see anything. Then suddenly a voice told me to be careful," Emily told them.

"A voice. Whose was it?" Amber questioned.

"No clue. I never heard the voice before, but she sounded nice. I think it was genuine. Then again, maybe it was just my imagination needing an output for its creativity," Emily answered, shrugging.

"I don't think so. I bet there is a reason for that dream, we just don't know it yet," Sarah objected as they took a turn and continued their way on the beach.

"Since when do you interpret dreams?" Amber asked.

"I believe there is some truth to dreams. Anyway, what did she warn you about?" Sarah retorted.

"I don't know. When I asked, she didn't reply and then my mom woke me up, so I can only guess," Emily said.

The girls walked in silence for a moment, when Emily finally realized, "You do realize what will happen soon?"

A light bulb went on above the other two girls heads. "The full moon," Sarah and Amber said in unison and Emily nodded, confirming their suspicion.

"This time one of us will be moonstruck," Emily replied.

"True. We can't have another Rachel case this time, though it is convenient," Amber said, causing Sarah and Emily rolled their eyes, "I didn't say anything against Rachel. I'm just saying that we don't get moonstruck when someone turns into a mermaid."

"The way you say it makes it sound like half the human population would soon be mermaids, if it were up to you," Sarah pointed out.

"Well another mermaid is better than being moonstruck," Amber retorted.

"That reminds me, we never told Rachel of the full moon. We have to warn her before it's too late," Emily remembered and the others nodded.

They had been so engrossed in their discussion that they didn't notice what was going on behind them. By pure luck Sarah had turned around. "Look out!" she cried and pushed the blondes to the ground along with her.

"What was that…," Amber began, annoyed, but stopped when a second later a tentacle shot through the place where they had just been. Instinctively Emily raised her hand and activated her power. The water monster was quickly covered in ice. Amber and Sarah were about to congratulate their friend when the tentacle exploded its ice cage and just as quickly shot for them, causing them to jump apart.

"Together," Sarah said and they all raised their hands, releasing their powers. The tentacle shook violently.

"We got it," Amber smiled, but their joy was short lived. Slowly the shaking seemed to lessen.

"What the… It seems to freeing itself," Emily stammered.

"You guys!" they heard someone exclaim. Risking to take their eyes of their opponent, they saw Rachel stand at the top of a dune.

"Rachel," they said as they watched Rachel activated her power. The effect was instantaneous. The tentacle's shakes became more violently than ever and then it exploded.

Breathing hard the girls watched Rachel hurry over to them. "Are you alright?" Rachel asked them. The girls nodded.

Emily risked a glance at her watch and said, "We have to hurry. School is starting soon."

Quickly they ran off. "Rachel, we have to talk to you later. Are you free after school?" Sarah asked.

"Sorry. I have stuff to do," Rachel replied.

The continued their sprint to school, when Amber realized, "How did you know we were in trouble?"

"I didn't really know. It was more like a feeling," Rachel tried to explain.

The school day passed without further excitement. The bell had just rung, ending the last class. The quartette was heading for the exit when they passed Ryan. "Ah, Rachel, is our meeting still set for later?" he asked.

Rachel stood there for a second, thinking, and then replied, "Yeah. See you at the docks." She quickened her pace and the other three had to almost jog to keep up with her.

"What was that about?" Sarah questioned.

"Nothing important. I got to go. I'll see you later," Rachel answered and hurried out of the school.

"That was weird," Amber said, "Did you know that they were meeting each other?"

"They're probably just have something to discuss," Sarah objected, though she too didn't know a real answer to this.

"And why didn't she tell us, instead of dodging the question?" Amber questioned.

"That's enough, Amber. I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for all this," Emily interrupted them, a bit agitated by Amber's insensitiveness.

Seeing they had to pick something up for their mothers, they went into the city before returning home. Having picked up the item, they headed back home. "This morning's attack was weird," Emily said, "Did you realize that the tentacle was close to breaking out of our attack?"

The others nodded. "If it wasn't for Rachel, we would have been in trouble. The tentacle might have broken out. It must be getting stronger," Sarah replied.

"But why is it getting stronger?" Amber asked, though the only reply was a shrug.

Walking past a jewelry store, Sarah asked, "Don't you think we should get Rachel a necklace? I mean she is officially part of us now."

The blondes looked into the store. "Good idea," Emily agreed.

"But what's the point, if your necklaces don't match. Plus ours are one of a kind. Remember, the guy, who was Lewis for the first mermaids, made these," Amber objected.

"His name was Max. You're right though. If anything they should match, but I can't separate from this one," Emily said and took her locket into her hand.

Just then they heard a voice say, "Being a mermaid is cool. They can swim for a really long time and see the underwater life."Identifying the voice, the girls turned to see Rachel coming out of the shop next to the one they were standing in front of with a woman that looked a lot like her, if she was older. The girls knew enough to recognize the woman that had made their mothers' lives hell. Charlotte. What shocked them even more was what Rachel had just said to her mother. They stared at them.

Rachel saw her friends and smiled, "Hey guys."

Charlotte eyed the descendants of the people that had ended her mermaid existence. When she finally seemed to break from her trance, Charlotte asked in a weird voice, "Who are these girls, Rachel?"

"These are my friends that I told you about. This is Emily, Sarah and Amber," Rachel introduced them, gesturing to each accordingly, "Guys, this is my mother."

Emily was the first to regain her voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said.

"The pleasure is mine. I hope Rachel doesn't cause too much trouble. Forgive me for asking, but have we met before?" Charlotte asked, not sure how she should ask the question she actually wanted to say. The girls quickly shook their heads. "I must be mistaking you for someone else, sorry," Charlotte said, although she still didn't sound confident.

"I have to get going. Bye guys. I'll be home later, mom," Rachel told them and hurried off.

"I should get going too. It was nice meeting you," Charlotte excused herself and also left.

The girls waited a good time before they finally spoke again. "I hope Rachel has a good reason for this too," Amber said.

"Oh, come on. Maybe she wasn't talking about us," Sarah retorted.

"And with what other topic do you talk about mermaids?" Amber asked, agitated.

"I have to agree with Amber on this. I think Rachel told Charlotte," Emily added, "The way she looked at us wasn't exactly nice."

"That was probably, because we looked just like our mothers from back then. She remembered the girls, who ruined her life. I thought we all agreed that Rachel was trustworthy," Sarah objected, annoyed.

"We did, but this could change everything," Emily retorted.

"You know what, I'm going to ask Rachel herself. I'm sure there is a explanation for all this," Sarah told them and stormed off. The blondes looked after the brunette and shrugged.

Remembering that Rachel had mentioned the docks, Sarah hurried to the water. Once there she jumped in and swam off. Of course there were several docks near the Cold Coast and Sarah had to search them all. She had no luck with the first two and when she surfaced at the third, she was almost sure that she would have no luck here either.

Sarah was about to submerge again, when she saw a flash of brown hair, that was unmistakably Rachel's. She swam towards her and was about to call out to her, when she saw Rachel, causing her to freeze. Rachel and Ryan were kissing. Tears filled her eyes as she turned on her heel, well in this state tail, and quickly swam away.

When Sarah reached her house, she found Emily and Amber in the backyard. The blondes immediately saw that something was wrong with their friend when she emerged from the water. "What happened?" Emily asked.

"She… They… kissed," Sarah sobbed. Amber and Emily would have hugged her, had she not been wet.

"I can't believe Rachel would do this to us," Sarah muttered as she and Emily and Amber were sitting in her room. She had finally stopped crying.

"I guess she really is like her mother," Amber said, "We should give her a piece of our mind with our magic."

"And what will that change?" Emily asked.

"At least then she'll know that we won't take this sitting down," Amber retorted.

"Let first get ready for the full moon tomorrow and then think about what to do with Rachel," Emily suggested. Sarah nodded and after they had given her a hard look, Amber also agreed.

* * *

The next day as the sun was slowly setting Rachel sat in a small cove. She had by chance found it when she swam past it. The entrance was almost completely blocked by a boulder and only from underwater was the cove accessible. She needed a place where nobody would find her quickly, so she could think. In her mermaid form she laid in the shallow water, her fingers playing in a tide pool as she thought of the day. Something had been wrong with Sarah, Emily and Amber. They had been unusually cold towards her. They hadn't greeted her that morning at school nor did they talk to her at all. After school they had disappeared before she could ask them what had happened. Not only that, but Sarah seemed to be really distant to Ryan today. She hadn't even spared him a glance.

"I wonder if I should tell them the truth," Rachel muttered and subconsciously did her hand sign. Suddenly the tide pool before her began to bubble and steam rose. Startled Rachel jumped back. She stared from the tide pool to her hand and back.

* * *

Meanwhile the trio had put Sarah's house under lock down. "Is everything ready for the full moon?" Emily asked as she, Amber and Sarah walked through the house one last time, checking everything.

"I think so," Sarah replied.

"Lets curl up with some popcorn and watch a movie," Amber suggested, "Always sealing the entire house makes me tired."

With that Amber walked into the kitchen, while Emily and Sarah made themselves comfortable on the couch. "How are you doing?" Emily asked, concerned.

"Fine," Sarah replied, though her eyes revealed a different answer.

"You're handling it well," Emily said, putting her hand on Sarah's shoulder.

Just then the doorbell rang. The girls looked at each other. Who could that be? Getting up, they went to the door and opened it. Both the girls froze at the sight of the person at the door. Just then Amber came around the corner. "Ryan, what a surprise," she said with a slight annoyance in her voice as she saw the boy standing at the door.

"What do you want?" Sarah asked, coolly.

"I want to know why you're avoiding me," Ryan replied.

"I think you know why," Sarah said, curtly and turned, going back inside.

"No, I don't," Ryan retorted.

"Guys, can we discuss this inside or do we want to be moonstruck?" Emily suggested and Ryan quickly came inside.

After the door was closed, they all followed Sarah into the living room. "I have no clue what why you're avoiding me," Ryan told Sarah, well her back, since she refused to look at him.

Sarah turned around, glaring at him. "Let me jog your memory why. How about yesterday at the docks?" she asked.

"What about that?" Ryan retorted.

"You kissed Rachel!" Sarah snapped.

"That was an accident," Ryan protested, "Wait, how do you even know that? Did you follow us?" Ryan's mood went from rage to being appalled.

"I didn't. I wanted to talk to Rachel when I saw you kissing," Sarah defended herself.

"You followed us. Don't you trust me?" Ryan demanded.

"Don't turn this on me," Sarah retorted.

Emily and Amber, who had been standing there, watching this argument, had had enough. "Shut up!" Amber yelled and Ryan and Sarah stared at her.

"What do you mean it was an accident?" Emily asked, turning to Ryan.

"I was helping Rachel with a project for the science club. I helped her fix her telescope and showed her a good computer program for the moon phases," Ryan explained.

"And why couldn't she tell us that?" Amber questioned.

"She knew you were sensitive to the subject of the moon, since it transformed you," Ryan answered.

"And the kiss?" Sarah demanded.

"She tripped over something and I tried to catch her. Somehow our lips met. It meant nothing to either of us. I wanted to tell you, but Rachel said that we should just keep it a secret, because she was afraid we would have a fight," Ryan told her.

Sarah stared at him. "So… it was an accident," Sarah clarified as relief flooded her face, "Thank god."

"There is no other girl for me than you," Ryan said as he stepped towards Sarah and kissed her.

"Wait. Does that mean Rachel is out there right now?" Emily asked.

"I don't know. Why?" Ryan answered.

"Rachel doesn't know that she'll be moonstruck, if she sees the full moon," Emily told him.

"What! You didn't tell her?" Ryan exclaimed.

"We intended to, but then all of this got in the way," Emily explained.

"What do we do? We can't go out there anymore. We'll be moonstruck instantly," Sarah asked.

"Do you know where she wanted to see the moon from?" Amber questioned, but Ryan shrugged.

"Check Mako. She was there last time too," Sarah recalled.

"Okay. I'll try to find her. Don't worry," Ryan told them and hurried off.

The girls closed their eyes until they heard the door close. Sarah flopped down onto the couch. "I was so stupid. How could I ever believe that Rachel would do something like that?" she said.

"We weren't better. You at least believed in her longer than we did. We have to learn to trust her unconditionally. It might be hard, but Rachel is worth the effort," Emily replied.

"Let hope that Ryan finds her in time," Amber added and the other girls nodded.

They sat there for a while, not knowing what to do. "Is it getting cold in here?" Emily asked.

"You're right. It's a bit chilly," Sarah agreed and they got up, looking for the source. They quickly found it. The front door wasn't completely closed and was open a bit, but not enough to fear getting moonstruck.

"That Ryan. He didn't close the door properly," Amber sighed as Sarah went to the door.

Suddenly just as Sarah was about to close the door, it was slammed open, causing Sarah to stumble backwards. In the doorway floated a tentacle. The girls stared at it in horror. Quickly the tentacle lunged at them. They jumped out of the way, causing it to hit the wall. "We need to go outside or it'll trash the house," Sarah said and they moved passed the tentacle outside.

Standing on Sarah's lawn, Emily realized their mistake. "Wait! It's a trap. The full moon," she exclaimed, "Quick! Close your eyes!"

They closed their eyes. "What now? How are we supposed to fight that thing, if we can't even see it?" Amber asked, annoyed, turning her head in all directions.

"We don't have a choice. We can't risk looking at the full moon," Emily retorted as she tried to hear the tentacle, but to no avail. Suddenly the tentacle hit them from the side, making them fly to the ground.

"We're through. We have no chance," Sarah said as they turned into a mermaids, "We're sitting ducks."

"Actually we're laying mermaids," Amber joked.

"Amber!" Emily and Sarah yelled. "This is not the time for jokes," Emily snapped.

"Well, if we are going to die, then at least we could die laughing," Amber retorted.

"You guys!" they heard someone exclaim. It had to be Rachel. "Are you alright?" she asked as they heard her step in front of them, "You'll regret hurting my friends." For a moment everything was quiet, but then they heard something crack. Risking a glance, Emily carefully opened her eyes, but used her hand to shield them. Everywhere on the front lawn laid ice shards and the tentacle was gone.

"Lets get you inside," Rachel said, turning to them. Suddenly the three mermaids felt warm and a few seconds later they were back to normal.

After having gotten up and back inside, they slowly opened their eyes again to see a worried Rachel. "Thanks for drying us, Amber," Sarah said.

"That wasn't me," Amber replied and everyone stared at her.

"But if it wasn't you, then…," Emily began and they turned to Rachel, "You?"

Rachel nodded and told them, "Yes. I don't know why or how."

"Then the ice was also you. You froze the tentacle," Emily concluded. Sarah, Emily and Amber stared at her amazed. Not only did Rachel apparently have all of their powers, but she was really strong. She was able to defeat a tentacle on her own, while they needed all three of their powers.

"Actually I was here, because I wanted to know if something was wrong. You were acting weird today," Rachel told them and the girls shifted, awkwardly.

Finally Sarah spoke, "I have to apologize to you. I thought you and Ryan were together, when you didn't tell us about the meeting and then I saw you kiss…"

"You saw it? Sarah believe me it meant nothing…," Rachel began, horrified, but Sarah interrupted her, "It's okay. Ryan told us everything. About the kiss and the science project."

"I should be apologizing. I shouldn't have kept it from you. It's just that I knew you wouldn't like the idea, since the moon has to do with the mermaid transformation," Rachel explained.

"Okay, I get that part, but why did you tell your mom, you were a mermaid?" Amber demanded.

"I told my mom what? I never told her anything," Rachel asked, confused.

"But back at the shop. We heard you tell her that being a mermaid is cool," Emily retorted.

"I never said that, not really at least. We were in an art store, where we saw a drawing of a mermaid. My mother said that it was silly. I guess she is still not over her own mermaid experience. I replied that it would be great, if mermaids existed. I then said that I thought being a mermaid was cool," Rachel explained. The girls stared at her.

"So everything was a misunderstanding," Sarah said, "That's a relief."

"We're really sorry we doubted you," Emily told her and Amber nodded, but then Emily realized something, "How did you get here without looking at the full moon?"

"I didn't. I looked at it. The moon was really pretty," Rachel replied. Emily, Amber and Sarah stared at her. Rachel had looked at the full moon, yet she was definitely not moonstruck. How was that possible?

**A/N: **So once and for all Rachel's loyalty is confirmed. Are the tentacles getting stronger? Was that what Emily's dream meant? Why is Rachel unaffected by the full moon? Please review.


	9. Cold Front

**A/N: Why is it that even when you have summer vacation that you still don't get around to writing your stories? I wonder. Anyway thanks for reading and reviewing. Here is chapter 9. Enjoy!**

_Previously..._ _Amber, Sarah and Emily thought Rachel was acting weird. They thought she was seeing Ryan and that she told her mother the secret. This caused the girls to not trust her. The girls are attacked by a tentacle during the full moon, however Rachel was able to save them. Strangely she wasn't moonstruck and it turns out that she has all the powers from the other three. The girls talked to Rachel and it turned out that it was all misunderstandings. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 9: Cold Front

Although it was early in the morning Emily could already feel the heat that the day would bring. While she ate her breakfast she listened to the radio. "Today will be the hottest of the season, so everyone should always have a cool drink at ready," the meteorologist said. Looking at the clock, she got up and left for school.

As soon as she stepped outside she could feel the heat crushing her. Although she was used to hot days in Australia, this day seemed to be the hottest she could remember. By the time Emily had walked up her driveway to meet up with Amber and Sarah, she was already sweat soaked. After greeting them they walked off. "Man, it's hot today," Amber complained.

"It's unusually hot for this season. I think it's even hotter than in the summer," Sarah replied.

"And we have to spend the day in school. Well, at least they have air-conditioning," Amber muttered.

"We have more important things to worry about. Remember what today is?" Emily asked.

"Besides a hot day?" Amber joked, getting her a glare from Emily.

"Good morning," someone said and the girls turned to see Rachel, hurrying towards them, "Is everyone ready?"

"How can you be so energetic on such a hot day?" Amber questioned.

"Heat doesn't bother me much. I cope with it pretty well," Rachel explained, smiling, "So is everyone ready?"

"As ready as one can be for a new moon," Emily replied.

"Maybe we should have skipped school," Amber suggested.

"No way. We have a test in science today. We can't miss that," Emily objected.

"Maybe you can't, but I sure could," Amber muttered.

"Let me guess you studied for 5 minutes and then closed the book," Emily criticized.

"Wrong. I studied for 10 minutes while watching a movie," Amber told her and Emily only shook her head in dismay, "Not everyone studies for hours, Emily."

"I did. I can't afford a bad grade in science. Though after studying so much, I still think I didn't study enough," Sarah muttered, worried.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine. I don't think it'll be that hard," Rachel comforted her.

"Says you, the science ace," Sarah retorted.

"Come on. It has to do with the ocean and the environment. That's right up our alley," Rachel objected and Sarah gave a meek smile.

"Say when does the moon rise again?" Amber asked, trying to get away from the subject of school.

"Around 10 A.M. We're lucky though. It's up for 10 hours, so it's pretty short," Emily replied.

"Speaking of ocean and moon, I've been wondering about something. Since the new moon is during the daytime, will it effect us? I mean if a full moon is during the daytime, it has no effect on us. Maybe the new moon works on the same principle, so we would be overreacting, not to mention safe," Sarah told them.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. We get moonstruck when we see the full moon, so it's impossible for us to be moonstruck during the day when the sunlight is overpowering the moonlight. However if I understood you correctly it's different with the new moon. There we are, in a sense moonstruck, if we use our powers during the time that the new moon is up. So I think that since we don't need to see the moon, we could still be moonstruck during the day time," Rachel analyzed. After the near disaster with the full moon a few weeks ago, Sarah, Emily and Amber had told Rachel about the strange events during the new moon.

"Lets not try and find out," Amber said, whose head was starting to smoke from all the thinking.

"We were lucky that the full moon ended the way it did," Sarah added.

"Though I still don't understand why Rachel wasn't effected by the moon," Emily muttered, thoughtfully.

"Maybe because she is stronger than us," Amber suggested, which got her looks from the others, "She does have all three of our powers."

"I don't think that's it. Remember what our mothers told us. Even Charlotte got moonstruck and she had the same abilities as Rachel," Emma reminded her.

"Speaking of mothers, here Rachel. For you," Sarah said and handed Rachel an envelope with her name written on it in golden, elegant letters.

"What is this?" Rachel asked, curiously and opened it, "An invitation to Cleo and Lewis' wedding. Thanks."

"Of course. You're a part of us now. You can bring someone one along as well," Sarah replied.

Rachel read the invitation, smiling, but then her smile faded and she confessed, "I'm sorry, I can't come. On that day my grandpa is celebrating his 95th birthday. I hope you can understand."

"Of course, I can. Congratulate your grandpa from us. It's just too bad, though. I guess it can't be changed," Sarah muttered, a bit disappointed.

"Tell your mother thank you for the invite and that I'm sorry that I can't come. Also congratulate her from me on the big day," Rachel told her and Sarah nodded.

Just then they arrived at school. Science was the third period and the time seemed to pass by quickly. While Sarah dreaded the coming of the third period, Amber, Emily and Rachel were more relaxed, though for different reasons. Emily and Rachel were both sure in their skills, whereas Amber didn't really care. The break before third period seemed to be there in a flash and now Emily, Amber and Sarah stood in the hallway that Mr. Martin's science room was on.

"I don't think I'll be able to think in this heat," Sarah muttered, nervously as she stared at a page in her science book.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Emily assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Where is Rachel? Shouldn't she be here too?" Amber asked, looking around.

"You know she always reviews her notes alone before a test. It's her way of last minute studying," Emily reminded her and Amber nodded.

"It's just our luck that the moon should be rising any minute now. We have to concentrate on the test and at the same time worry about the moon," Amber said.

"It's the price we pay for our abilities," Emily whispered and then turned to walk off, "I need a drink. It's too hot."

With that she headed to a water fountain that was not far from where she had been. Luckily although it was really hot, there was only one person in front of her. After he was done, Emily stepped in front of it. She pushed down the button and lowered her head to the fountain, awaiting cool water, but nothing came out. Confused she tried it again, again without success. "What the… It worked fine a minute ago," Emily muttered, slightly annoyed. She tried it one last time, this time with more force.

Suddenly water came out of the fountain, shooting high into the air. Lightning quick Emily jumped back, avoiding the first of the water spray. She was about to relax, when she looked up and saw the water coming down. Instinctively Emily raised her hand, activated her powers and froze the water.

As the icicles dropped to the ground, shattering, Emily froze, only now realizing what she had done. Carefully, she looked around, meeting eyes with Amber and Sarah, who had both seen everything. Miraculously nobody else seemed to notice, either busy studying or already being in the classroom. Emily let out a shaking sigh of relief, but then she remembered. The new moon! Had it already risen?

Quickly, Emily hurried to her friends. "Are you alright?" Sarah asked, worried.

"I'm fine. Do you have any idea, if the moon rose yet?" Emily replied, but her friends shrugged. Hurrying to a window, they looked outside. The sun still shone like crazy and the heat didn't seem to have let up.

"Is something wrong?" Rachel asked, coming up to them. Quickly they clued her in. "Well, everything seems fine," Rachel said.

"You could try using your powers and see if they're still there," Amber suggested.

"Bad idea. The moon is definitely up by now," Rachel objected, pointing to her watch, "We can only hope that you barely missed the rising."

"Excuse me, if I'm interrupting your private conversation, but could you please grace us with your presences," someone said, causing the girls to turn around. It was Mr. Martin, who was standing in the doorway to his classroom. In their worries they had completely overheard the bell ringing for class. Apologizing the girls quickly filed into the classroom and took their seats.

"Now everyone has a paper? Good. The time you have is written on the board. I will remind you before we start that if I catch you cheating, I will flunk you," Mr. Martin told them and then looked at his watch, "Begin." There was a rustle of papers as everyone turned their papers around and began.

A good fifteen minutes had passed. Although Emily had already written quite a bit, she couldn't really concentrate. Her mind kept wondering back to the incident a few minutes before. Had she really gotten lucky? Not to mention it was impossible to think in this heat.

"Mr. Martin, could you close the blinds. The sunlight is blinding me," someone said and the teacher complied, walking to the window.

His hand was halfway to the blinds, when it froze. "What the…," he stammered. Outside he saw clouds rapidly engulfing the sky, blocking out the sun.

The students used their teacher's distraction to discuss their answers. "What do you have here?" Amber asked, pointing to a question on Emily's paper.

"Don't you dare," Emily hissed and gently slapped Amber's hand.

"It's snowing," interrupted Mr. Martin's confused voice the class. The four mermaids wheeled around, horrified. True to his word, it was snowing. Along with everyone else they hurried to the window, the test forgotten. "How is that possible? It's way too hot to be snowing," Mr. Martin stammered, astonished as he watched large snowflakes fall to the ground.

"I guess that answers that question," Amber muttered, jokingly.

"Not a good time. This is really bad," Rachel retorted as the girls quietly stepped away from the crowd.

"Well at least the explanation that a mermaid under the control of the new moon is doing this won't immediately pop into people's minds," Amber said.

"Amber," the three hissed.

"We really have a problem. It's obvious that this isn't normal," Emily whispered.

"And us worrying about it will do what exactly? We can't do anything about it now. We can only hope that things don't get worse," Amber retorted, firmly. Sadly the others had to nod their head in agreement. Amber was right.

They sat their in silence as the others continue to watch the snow fall. "Is it just me or is it getting colder in here?" Sarah asked, rubbing her arms.

"No, it's not you. The temperature dropped several degrees in the last few minutes," Emily pointed out, her teeth chattering a bit, "And if my guess is correct, it will get even colder."

"Then we'll freeze to death. Nobody brought anything warm. Everyone was prepare for the hottest day of the year. We're all wearing shorts and tank tops," Amber said.

"I hope someone is smart enough to turn off the air conditioning," Rachel added, also trying to warm herself.

After about half a hour the temperature had dropped to the point where snow could really fall and the snow itself already went to the people's ankles and still falling rapidly. By then everyone was already huddled together, trying to keep warm. "How ironic to be freezing on the hottest day of the year," Sarah muttered as she watched Mr. Martin writing some long, complex scientific theory on the blackboard, trying to explain the sudden change in weather, "Aren't you cold, Amber?"

Amber was sitting a bit off from the rest, seemingly pretty unaffected. "Not really. I'm pretty hot blooded," Amber replied. She didn't like being enclosed by other people.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Emily said.

Amber was about to give a sharp remark, when the loudspeakers gave a crack and the principal's voice announced, "Attention, everyone. Do to the sudden weather changes, school is cancelled for the rest of the day." A cheer went through the entire school. "However it is unlikely that anyone will be able to brave this storm and make it home safely, so for now everyone is instructed to come to the gym and wait out the storm," the principal told them.

Everyone followed the orders and walked to the gym. "I wonder if they have turned on the heater yet? Does this school even have a heater?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know, but if they do, its smart to send us all in one place. It could take days for the heater to heat the entire school. By putting us all in one room the time it takes to heat should be drastically reduced. Not to mention a lot of people make a lot of body heat," Rachel answered and Sarah nodded as they found a place in the gym to sit down.

They sat there in silence, knowing they wouldn't be out of there for a long time. Suddenly Emily's phone rang in her pocket. Taking it out, she saw that it was Emma. "Mom," she answered the phone.

"Emily, are you doing this?" Emma demanded. Emily stared at the phone.

"Of course not. Why would I?" Emily replied, feeling guilty for lying.

"Emily… Ans….," were the only fragments of what her mother said that got through before the line went dead.

"No reception," Emily said as she saw her friends' gazes. Only now did it really strike her. This was her fault, even if it didn't feel like it. She drew up her legs and rested her head on her knees.

Amber stood, looking down at her friend. She was about to say something, when someone said, "Hey Amber."

"No, please. Not him," she silently begged as she turned around and saw that her silent prayer wasn't heard. It was Heath. "What do you want?" Amber demanded, already annoyed.

"Pretty weird weather, huh?" Heath asked.

"Just tell me what you want," Amber repeated.

"I was wondering if you needed my jacket. I always keep one in my locker in case and since we have such nice chemistry…," he told her, showing her the jacket in his hand.

"What chemistry? The only time we were alone was on that business meeting of our dads and that was arranged by you. Get lost. Give you jacket to one of your cheerleaders," Amber snapped, not in the mood for any of this. With that Heath left.

"Annoying," Amber muttered as she turned back to her friends.

"Wow, even in this cold, you're still as hot tempered as ever," Jordan said, coming up to them along with Ryan. Their respective girlfriends gave them a kiss.

"Say, Emily is this your doing?" Ryan asked.

"Does it look like I'm using my magic?" Emily retorted, looking up.

"Okay, I was just asking," Ryan said, defensively.

"Say, schools already cancelled, so why don't you melt all the snow and we can get out of here," Jordan suggested to Amber. The girls stared at him, remembering that they had decided to keep it to themselves.

"That's impossible. Sure I could melt the snow, but if it keeps snowing, it'll just be snowed over again. I can't make the clouds go away," Amber lied. She didn't know if she would lose her powers too if she used them, but she wasn't about to find out.

"Couldn't Sarah blow them away with wind and if it's too hard for one, Rachel could help?" Ryan asked.

"We can't do it," Rachel replied curtly, coming to Amber's rescue and the guys finally seemed to give up. They sat down and waited.

Meanwhile Emily had been too deep in her own thought to hear the discussion. It was her fault, wasn't it? If she hadn't used her magic, this wouldn't have happened. Had she been more careful this could have been avoided. Then they wouldn't be stuck in the gym. These thoughts revolved in her head, not letting her go.

Emily didn't notice the worried looks that her friends exchanged. Rachel stepped over to Amber and whispered something in her ear to which Amber nodded. Rachel motioned for Sarah to get Emily. Carefully Sarah pulled Emily up and forced her to follow them, Emily not giving a protest.

"Where are you going?" Jordan asked.

"Bathroom," Amber replied, quickly and hurried off.

Leaving the warming gym, they stepped into the cold hallway. Emily was surrounded by her friends.

"What?" she whispered. The girls could now clearly see that Emily's blue eyes were dazed.

Suddenly Amber raised her hand and slapped Emily. "Amber!" Sarah exclaimed, while Emily cried, holding her reddening cheek, "What was that for?"

"Snap out of it," Amber said.

"Emily, none of this is your fault, so don't go blaming yourself," Rachel told her.

"But it is my fault. If I hadn't used my powers, this wouldn't have happened," Emily objected, weakly.

"Do I have to slap you again?" Amber asked, annoyed.

"Think about it, Emily. Which is worse? Transforming into a mermaid in front of everyone and being carted off to some science lab or having to be stuck in the gym for a couple of hours?" Rachel questioned.

"You did the only sensible thing, Emily. None of us blame you for this," Sarah added and hugged her.

Emily looked around at her friends. "Thank you," she said, giving them a small smile, "It's just when my mother and Ryan accused me of this, it kind of made me feel like it was my fault."

With that Rachel joined the hug, muttering, "Don't ever think that."

Then they opened their hug to look at Amber, who stood there alone, and motioned her to join them. She looked at them for a moment and then joined them with a small smile.

"Did you really have to slap me?" Emily asked, eying Amber.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea," Amber protested.

"Sorry, it was mine. We could see you weren't doing well and we needed to snap you out of it, so you would listen to us. I asked Amber if she could slap you, since I couldn't do it," Rachel explained.

"I see. Thanks you guys," Emily said. She smiled at them, but then she remembered something. "Wait. Maybe this is what my dream was trying to warn me about," Emily suggested.

"That would explain the blizzard in your dream. I guess we'll never find out," Rachel agreed. With that they walked back inside.

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. The snowfall kept going strong until around the time that the moon had reached its highest point in the sky and then slowly the snowfall decreased. Meanwhile in the gym blankets and food had been passed out. Some played games, others talked. Now it was shortly before eight.

"Ready?" Rachel asked and the others nodded. They were standing at a window, looking outside. The strong snowfall had subsided and it was only a few flakes now.

"3,2,1, over," the girls counted down and watched as by over the snow stopped falling completely. They let out a sigh of relief.

"Now what? Even if the new moon is over, the snow is still up to our knees. It will take hours before we're out of here," Rachel asked.

"Now, it's our turn," Amber and Sarah smiled. Both of them raised their hands to the sky. A wind picked up, blowing the clouds away. The sun came out and immediately started to warm everything up. Then Amber used her magic to help speed up the melting process. Slowly the snow melted down until a lot of it was still puddles. The girls smiled at each other.

Just then Mr. Martin came up to them. "Ah, girls, since your class was cut short I never got to the chance to tell you of our class trip," he began.

"Class trip?" the girls repeated.

"Yes. We're going on a class trip to Cairns. There we'll have a look at the Great Barrier Reef, among others," Mr. Martin told them, "I'll tell you more later. That reminds me I believe your parents are there to pick you up." With that he left.

"Cairns. How cool," Sarah said, "I always wanted to go there. We could swim in the Great Barrier Reef."

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea for us to go there," Emily objected.

"Lets take one step at a time. We can still decide that later," Rachel replied and the others nodded. Just then they stepped outside. Amber and the sun had done a good job. There was still a small ice and snow layer underneath them, but other than that, everything was melted. Carefully, not to step into a puddle or slip, they walked to the street. "My mom is there. See you tomorrow," Rachel excused herself and left.

"And there is our ride," Amber said, pointing to Emma's car. They got in and drove off. There was an eerie silence in the car that was almost suffocating.

"Did you do it?" Emma finally broke the silence.

"Mom, do you honestly think I would do something like this?" Emily replied, looking at her mother hurt.

Emma sighed and said, "No, but it's just strange. The hottest day of the year suddenly turns into a blizzard. Though I can imagine that there was some help cleaning the mess up." She looked at Amber and Sarah through the rearview mirror. They gave a small smile.

"Where were you the whole time?" Amber asked.

"We were stuck at a store. We were shopping for the wedding," Emma told them.

"Really? What did you get? What does mom's dress look like?" Sarah questioned.

"Secret," Emma smiled, "Though I have to say that we had enough time to look around." The girls started laughing.

**A/N: **That ends a cold day. The invitations have been send. The wedding is around the corner. Will everything go smoothly? Could someone from the past mean trouble? Please review.


	10. Wedding

**A/N: School is back, but I'll try to continue uploading regularly. As always a thanks to my readers and reviewers. Here is chapter 10. Enjoy!  
**

**JazzGirl123 I can't answer you, if your PM is disabled. Please enable it, so I can reply.**

_Previously... The hottest day of the year turned into the coldest, when Emily accidentally used her powers during a new moon, causing everyone to be stuck in school. While others are concerned the cold, Emily began to doubt herself. Luckily her friends were able to help and everything ended well. Also Lewis had proposed to Cleo a few chapters earlier. Now on to the chapter. _**  
**

Chapter 10: Wedding

"But why not mom?" Sarah asked, looking at her mother. They were sitting in their kitchen.

"It doesn't matter, Sarah," Cleo retorted.

"It does matter. A honeymoon is part of getting married," Sarah objected. "We can't just leave you alone while we're on honeymoon," Cleo said.

"Mom, I'm nearly 17. Plus how alone can I be? I'm surrounded by Emma and Rikki, not to mention I could always have Emily and Amber over," Sarah protested.

"That's not for you to decide. Either way Lewis and I can't take time off from work. Also we can't afford a honeymoon. The wedding is expensive enough. Not to mention it's a bit too late to plan a honeymoon. The wedding is tomorrow," Cleo pointed out, ending the discussion.

"I can't believe it. Tomorrow is the day," Sarah smiled, not able to contain her excitement.

"Wow, you're so energetic that one could imagine you're the one getting married," Cleo teased.

"Come on, mom. You can't possibly tell me you're not excited. You dreamed of this day for years," Sarah replied.

"Okay, I admit I am excited," Cleo gave in with a smile, "But also a bit nervous."

"Don't be. If you have loved each other for so many years, a marriage can only strengthen it," Sarah said.

"You're right," Cleo agreed, but then suddenly asked, "Do you really have nothing against me and Lewis marrying?"

Sarah stared at her mom confused. "Mom, what are you talking about? Of course I don't. In fact I want you to marry him. Don't tell me this is about him?" Sarah retorted.

"No,… yes. I don't love him, Sarah, I swear, but he is your father, whether you like it or not. I don't want you to think that Lewis is trying to take his place," Cleo explained.

"He's not my father and I don't care if Lewis takes his place. Actually I would almost be happy," Sarah replied.

Cleo looked as though she was going to say something, but then looked at the clock and asked, "Say, weren't you going to meet Amber and Emily?"

Sarah's eyes shot to the clock. "Oh, god! I'm late! See you later mom!" she exclaimed and hurried out of the house.

A short time later Sarah arrived at a café out of breath, where Emily and Amber were already waiting. "Sorry, I'm late," Sarah gasped.

"It's okay," Emily replied.

"What kept you?" Amber asked.

"My mom and I were talking," Sarah answered as she sat down.

"Oh, how is she doing? Is she excited yet?" Emily questioned.

"She's really excited, but a bit nervous," Sarah said.

"I would be surprised, if she wasn't." Amber admitted.

"So is the surprise ready?" Sarah asked.

The blondes smiled mischievously and Emily answered, "It's all taken care of. Our mothers got everything ready. Lewis and Cleo will be so surprised."

"I can't wait to see their faces," Amber agreed, "I'm sure they'll love it."

"But we never would have been able to think of something like that. This all thanks to Sarah," Emily said.

"It might have been my idea, but I would never have been able to do it alone," Sarah replied.

"So when are the relatives coming?" Amber asked.

"They should be coming soon actually. Mind if we head back home. Mom wants me there when they come," Sarah answered and the blondes nodded, getting up from their table. They walked down the road.

"Sarah," someone suddenly said. Sarah turned around and her eyes widened when she saw the person. The blondes saw the clear horror that was written on their friend's face. They were looking at a man with brown hair and eyes.

"You," Sarah muttered, her voice shaking.

"It's been a while, Sarah," the man said.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah demanded, seeming to have finally regained her composure.

"You've grown up very well," the man continued. "What are you doing here?" Sarah repeated, now clearly threateningly.

"Who is this?" Amber asked, confused.

"My name is Nate. It's a pleasure to meet you. You are clearly Emma's and Rikki's daughters," the man introduced himself.

"Nate? As in…," Emily began and Nate ended, "Her dad."

"You are not my father!" Sarah snapped.

"I am the reason you exist," Nate replied, calmly.

"You left before I was even born! You are not my father!" Sarah yelled.

"But wait. How do you know he's your dad, if you never met? I thought your dad left before you were even born?" Amber questioned.

"He did, but I saw a picture of him. He hasn't changed much," Sarah explained.

"I'll take that a compliment," Nate smiled.

"Don't. What are you doing here?" Sarah asked.

"I just broke up with my girlfriend and I thought I might go to the Gold Coast for a change of pace. By chance I ran into you. What a coincidence, huh?" Nate told her.

"Leave me alone," Sarah retorted and turned to leave, "Lets go." Sarah stalked off, angrily and Amber and Emily quickly exchanged a look before following her.

"So Cleo is getting married," Nate said, causing Sarah to stop dead in her tracks and wheel around.

"Don't you dare go near her. She has other things to worry about," Sarah demanded, remembering what her mother had said just a while earlier.

"I believe it's my decision whether I want to see Cleo or not. Not to mention she's old enough to take care of herself," Nate replied.

"I don't care. You stay away from her," Sarah retorted and with that she stormed off, along with Emily and Amber.

The walk back to their houses was quiet. The blondes didn't dare say a word to Sarah, who was clearly furious. With the appearance of her dad her life had turned upside down in a matter of seconds. Nearing the house they could see a few cars in front of it. Sarah forced a smile as she stepped up to the house.

"Sarah," someone said and a moment later she was embraced.

"Grandpa," Sarah smiled.

"You've grown so much. How is my princess?" Don Sertori asked.

"I'm fine, grandpa," Sarah replied.

"Give the girl some room to breath, Don. Hello Sarah," Samantha said as she also gave her granddaughter a hug.

"Hi grandma," Sarah answered.

"Do I also get a hug?" someone asked and everyone turned to see Bev, formerly Sertori. The two grandmothers looked at each other for a moment and then smiled, greeting each other.

"Great to see everyone's getting along," another person said. It was Cleo's sister, Kim. "Don't forget who these days belong to. I can't believe Cleo is finally getting married. I was sure that Cleo wouldn't get married anymore after I was married," Kim rambled on, "Where is our bride to be anyway? Lets go look for her." With that Kim and the grandmothers left, going into the house.

"Is everything alright, princess?" Don asked, looking at his granddaughter concerned.

"Of course, everything is fine. Why wouldn't it be? Mom and Lewis are getting married soon. I can't wait," Sarah lied, putting on her best fake smile.

"Well, if you say so. Speaking of Lewis I got to speak to him," Don replied and went looking for Lewis. Sarah felt a bit guilty for mentioning Lewis to Don. Now he would hear the lecture of you'd better take care of my daughter or you'll regret it speech.

That evening the rehearsal dinner was being held. Since it was going to be a small wedding with only the closest friends and relatives, the rehearsal dinner was taking place at Cleo's house and was more like a meet and greet than a rehearsal. Everyone had already been told, if they need to do anything. Everyone was in the backyard having a wonderful time. From her spot next to Emily and Amber, Sarah could see all the guests. Cleo and Lewis were talking with many different people. Sarah pointed to different people, telling her friends who they were. Since Lewis' parents were dead, a few of his cousins were there and a few of his friends, of which one would be the best man. In total there were just over 20 people who were invited. Everyone was in a good mood.

There was a cling of glass and everyone fell silent when they saw that the best man, Tyler was ready to say a few words. "Since I know you don't want anything fancy or too long, I'll keep myself short. Lewis, in all my years that I worked with you, I always heard you talk about a girl named Cleo, who you knew back then. Actually he could hardly ever stop, if he got started. He always said she was pretty, kind and just a wonderful person. Well, I must say Lewis that you are wrong. She is far better than you ever described her. A toast to the bride and groom," Tyler said and several toasts echoed through the crowd as they took a sip.

The girls stood there too. "This is really nice," Amber said, even though she wasn't always one for festive activities.

"I think this is the perfect size for their wedding," Emily added.

"You're right. The wedding will be really great," Sarah agreed, smiling, but her smiled subsided when she saw a shadow just outside of the backyard lights. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Is everything alright?" Emily asked, seeing her friend's expression.

"Hold this," Sarah replied as she handed her drink to Amber, who took it astonished.

Checking to make sure no one was watching her, she walked off towards the shadow. Her fears were confirmed when she saw Nate. "What are you doing here? How do you know where we live?" Sarah demanded quietly as she pulled Nate towards the front of the house, "Leave."

"Cleo is getting married to Lewis? I thought he was dead," Nate asked, ignoring Sarah's demand.

"As you can see he isn't. Now leave. You weren't invited," Sarah answered.

"You're being awfully harsh to your dad," Nate replied. "You are not my father and never will be. That chance ended over 16 years ago. There is no excuse for what you put mom though," Sarah snapped.

"Sarah, I am your father, if you like it or not," Nate said and with that turned to leave.

"You are not my father," Sarah repeated to his back.

As Nate walked down the street, Sarah got an idea. She raised her hand and activated her power. Suddenly the fire hydrant that Nate walked past burst, causing water to fly everywhere. Sarah watched with a victorious smile as Nate shook himself, drenched.

"Are you crazy?" someone asked and Sarah turned to see Emily, followed by Amber.

"He deserved it," Sarah retorted. "Sarah, I know you can't stand him, but you can't just do something like that. It could blow our cover. That was really stupid," Emily set her straight.

"Yeah, it was something that I would do," Amber agreed.

Sarah looked at her friends and sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just that that guy drives me crazy and I don't want him to ruin mom's wedding."

Just then Cleo showed up. "Who don't you want to ruin my wedding?" she asked.

The girls froze. "We'll leave you alone," Amber said and quickly Emily and Amber retreated back to the backyard.

"Is something wrong, Sarah? You seem very distracted today," Cleo asked.

"Nothing is wrong. I guess I'm just really excited about the wedding," Sarah lied.

"Is that really all?" Cleo questioned, suspiciously. Sarah just nodded. With that they walked back to the party.

The rest of the evening went without further interruptions and soon the next day arrived. Sarah, Emily and Amber had slept together in Emily's house, since Emma, Rikki and Cleo should be alone in their home.

"Today's the day," Sarah smiled as she jumped around in her pajamas.

"We have to watch the time. We don't want to be late," Emily reminded them.

"Yeah, yeah. Relax. We have plenty of time," Amber replied.

"Well, showering, hair, make-up, nails and dressing take a lot of time," Emily retorted. Sarah tried to hold back a laugh, but couldn't. "What's so funny?" Emily asked.

"You. You could almost be a bride's maid with all of your worrying," Sarah smiled and the blondes also started to laugh. They were glad that Sarah at least for now seemed to have forgotten Nate. Slowly they started to get ready.

By the time the girls were ready it was late afternoon. Samantha Sertori opened the door to Jordan, Dan and Ryan, when they rang. Each of them wore a suit. "Girls, they're here," she called upstairs.

"Just a minute," Sarah replied from upstairs.

"You don't mind, if I leave you here? I have to make some final adjustments," Samantha told the guys and left.

Just then the girls came down. The guys eyes widened and their jaws dropped. All three of them wore the same dress, but in a different color. The dresses had spaghetti straps and went to their knees. The skirt started just below their chests and had two see-through layers over the real skirt. Sarah's dress was pink, while Emily's was purple and Amber's red. Each of them wore matching jewelry and had their hair open.

"Wow," the guys said. Actually it was the only thing they could say.

"Every charming," Amber criticized, but smiled as they stepped up to their respective boyfriends and gave them a kiss.

"You look so amazing," Ryan complimented Sarah as the other two did the same thing.

"Thanks," Sarah smiled.

"Are you ready?" Samantha said, coming back with Bev and everyone nodded. They split up into two cars and the grandmothers drove them to the wedding.

Getting out of the car the girls smiled. They stood at the beach. Not far from the road, several rows of chairs were set up, facing the ocean. In front of the chairs was a small pedestal. An arch with roses was also there. Looking at the ocean, they could see Mako in the distance, over which the sun was slowly starting to set.

"The perfect location, isn't it?" Sarah smiled as the wind played with her hair and the blondes nodded in agreement. Walking through the archway and the aisle between the chairs, the girls found their places in the front row.

Now everyone was settled and the wedding was getting started. First the priest, along with Lewis and Tyler went to the altar. Lewis looked nervous, but at the same time he was beaming.

Then Emma and Rikki came down the aisle as the brides' maids. Although they were married and they had both protested for a moment, Cleo had refused to have anyone else as her bride's maids. After having mentioned that none of them had been bride's maids at their wedding, they quickly gave in. Now they walked down the aisle in matching sky blue dresses. They like their daughters' dresses went to the knee and had spaghetti straps. Around their waist they had a white ribbon, which was on the back. Their open hair danced in the wind as they took their place next to the altar.

Then Kim's five year old daughter, Alice came down the alley in a cute little cream colored dress. In her hand she held a basket full of rose petals, which she threw into the air.

Finally Cleo along with Don walked down the alley as the typical wedding music played. She wore a strapless white dress that flowed to the ground elegantly. The back was a bit longer so that it was pulled behind her. On the skirt were beautiful embroideries, which resembled flowers a bit. A simple veil covered her head and her open hair, which curled freely. Cleo wore the most enchanting of smiles. At the altar Don gently pressed her hand one last time, before he sat down. When Lewis saw his bride, he could only stare. She looked stunning. "You look beautiful," he whispered as the priest stepped forward in front of Cleo and him. Cleo smiled a thanks.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy Matrimony," the priest began and went on. Then he came to the words, "If any man can show just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace."

"I object," someone suddenly said, causing everyone to turn and gasp. It was Nate.

Sarah's eyes widened as she shot up from her seat. The blondes exchanged worried looks. "What are you doing here? You don't belong here," Sarah said as she came up to Nate.

"What's it look like?" Nate replied, casually, as if he hadn't just disturbed something important.

Before Sarah could say anything, someone said, "Nate." Wide eyed Sarah turned to see Cleo stand behind her, an astonished look on her face.

"What are you doing here?" the bride asked.

"I want you back, Cleo. I'm Sarah's father. I realized that I really care for you. We should be together. Not you and him," Nate told her.

There was a deadly silence as Cleo looked at him perplexed."No, Nate. It's over. It's been over since the day you left me and Sarah. We found someone that can and will take care of us and never abandon us," Cleo told him, not with anger, but firmly.

Nate looked at Cleo for a moment and then stepped forward, whispering into her ear, "You really do make a beautiful bride. I hope you'll become happy with him. Good bye." With that he turned and walked away. Everyone was staring either at Nate or Cleo.

Slowly Cleo turned back to the priest and asked, walking back to the altar, "Shall we continue?"

The priest seemed quite shocked by the whole situation, but then continued, "Lewis McCartney, do you take Cleo Sertori to be your lawfully wedded wife to live together in marriage. Do you promise to love, comfort, honor and keep her? For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. And forsaking all others, be faithful only to her so long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Lewis replied, smiling at Cleo.

"And do you do you take Lewis McCartney to be your lawfully wedded husband to live together in marriage. Do you promise to love, comfort, honor and keep him? For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. And forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?" the priest asked.

"I do," Cleo smiled.

Lewis took Cleo's right hand and vowed, "I, Lewis, take Cleo to my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part."

Taking Lewis' right hand, Cleo said, "I, Cleo, take Lewis to be my lawfully wedded husband,to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part."

Then Lewis took out the wedding ring. It was nearly the exact same as the engagement ring, except that it was in gold. "Cleo, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you," Lewis told her and slipped on the ring.

Cleo turned to Emma and Rikki, who stepped forward. They each held one side of the ring. Having taken the ring, Cleo turned back to Lewis. "Lewis, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you," Cleo replied as she also slipped the ring on his finger and then they turned to the priest.

"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," the priest said. Lewis and Cleo kissed and everyone cheered. Everyone came up to them and congratulated them.

Later at the party Cleo stepped up to Sarah, who was standing a little of to the side. "You knew he was here, didn't you?" Cleo asked and Sarah nodded, "So that's what was bothering you."

"You were so busy and I didn't want you to worry," Sarah began to ramble, but Cleo interrupted, "Thanks for trying to protect me, but I'm old enough to take care of myself. If something like this happens again, tell me. "

Sarah nodded and replied, "It's just when you talked about Nate, you seemed unsure. I didn't want to force you to confront him."

"Maybe I was. I'm not sure. I mean getting married to Lewis made me realize that he wasn't your father and that I wasn't sure if I was making the right decision by marrying him and not Nate. Don't think that I don't love Lewis. When Nate suddenly stood in front of me, I realized that I could never marry him. We're too different and I still hadn't forgiven him for leaving us, though I am glad I was finally able to tell him this," Cleo told her and Sarah hugged her mother, understanding her perfectly.

"There you are," Rikki said as she, Emma and their daughters came up to them, "We have something for you."

"For us?" Lewis asked as he also appeared next to Cleo.

"This is for you," Emma replied and handed them an envelope.

"What's in this?" Cleo asked, curiously.

"Open it," Emma and Rikki smiled.

The newly weds opened the envelope and pulled out two plane tickets. "Tickets," Cleo said.

"It's your honeymoon. Two weeks Philippines. Fully paid," Emily told them.

"What!" the couple exclaimed, "Are you crazy? What about work?"

"Everything is settled. Your flight leaves tomorrow," Amber replied.

"Tomorrow. We have to pack," Cleo said, ready to hurry off.

"No you don't. We took the liberty of packing for you," Rikki smiled.

Cleo looked at her friends and then gave in, "Thanks, guys. You're the best." She hugged them.

"Don't thank just us. It was Sarah's idea," Emma told her.

Cleo looked at her daughter and then gave her a hug too. "Thank you," Cleo whispered.

"Now there's just one thing left to do," Rikki said.

"What?" Cleo asked.

"The bouquet toss," Rikki smiled as all the girls, who weren't married, lined up. Cleo stepped in front of them with her back turned and then tossed the bouquet. Turning around Cleo, froze for a moment, but then couldn't help but smile. Amber, Sarah and Emily all had a hand on the bouquet. The mermaids smiled at one another.

**A/N: **With the I do's said, everything couldn't be better. Of course this harmony can't last for long, when tentacles are after you and the new moon is an enemy. Please review.


	11. Dangerous Night

**A/N: Alright. I've gotten used to school again. A thanks goes out to all my readers and reviewers. Here is chapter 11. Enjoy!**

_Previously... It finally happened. Cleo and Lewis got married after Nate interrupted the ceremony. The only good part about this is that any doubt that Cleo had disappeared. Now they're on their honeymoon. Also a chapter before the girls found out about their class trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 11: Dangerous Night

"Oh, come on. Why shouldn't we go?" Amber demanded, annoyed.

"Why? You really need to ask? How about the fact that we'll be surrounded by water and our classmates? Or the fact that there will be a full moon while we're there?" Emily retorted. They were in a secluded part of the school campus, so no on heard them. Sarah and Rachel had watched an argument come to life between the two blondes of the group, if they should go on the class trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

"We can't live our lives in fear of the full moon and of being discovered forever," Amber objected.

"Then I'm guessing you want to end up on a science lab table with Mr. Martin using a scalpel on you?" Emily asked.

"I never said that it will come to that, but life is too short to always play it safe," Amber answered.

Emily glared at Amber for a moment and then turned to the two bystanders. "Say something will you," Emily demanded.

"I haven't been a mermaid for that long. Plus I have been to the Great Barrier Reef. I'm fine with either decision," Rachel replied.

"I agree with Rachel. I mean, I would like to see the Great Barrier Reef, but I'm fine with staying home, if you think it's too dangerous," Sarah said. Neither wanted to get involved in the fight.

"Why can't you just say what you think?" Amber demanded.

"You want me to say what I think. Fine. Stop arguing, I hate it. Can't you both cool down? Lets decide tomorrow, that way you can think about it again calmly," Sarah told them, firmly and Rachel nodded in agreement.

The blondes looked at each other. "I'm sorry, Emily," Amber finally said, "It's not that I don't care about out secret, it's just that I really want to go to the Great Barrier Reef. Imagine, we could swim through it."

"I'm sorry too. Maybe I am a bit overprotective," Emily admitted, "That would be great."

"Group hug?" Sarah asked as she spread her arms and everyone came in.

"Amber… Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Jordan, who had come around the corner, asked.

Amber got herself out of the hug and answered, "Not at all. What is it?"

"I was wondering, if you're free tomorrow night?" Jordan asked.

"I might be. Why?" Amber teased with a smile.

"I have dinner reservations for two and I need a dining companion," Jordan replied.

"Oh, so I'm just a replacement for someone better?" she joked.

"You could never be a replacement. You're a first pick," Jordan told her.

"Well, I guess if you put it that way I'll come," Amber finally gave in.

"Great. I'll pick you up at 7. Wear something formal," Jordan said and with a kiss on the cheek, disappeared again.

With a big grin on her face, Amber turned to her friends, who all however wore a serious expression. "What?" Amber asked.

"You know what. Tomorrow is a new moon," Emily retorted.

"So?" Amber went on.

"It's dangerous. What if you use your powers?" Sarah replied.

"May I remind you that it was not me who got moonstruck the last two times," Amber said, granting her a sheepish look from Emily and Sarah, "Like I just said before, we can't be afraid of life. Plus, I'm going out to dinner. Why would I use my powers there?"

"That's true. There shouldn't be any reason why you should need your powers," Rachel agreed.

The brunettes turned to Emily, who looked at Amber unemotionally. Finally Emily said, "Okay, have fun, but be careful."

"Yes, mom," Amber joked and everyone had to laugh.

"But don't you want to greet my mom and Lewis when they come back from their honeymoon tomorrow?" Sarah asked.

"I'm sorry. Tell them that too, but I really want to go on this date," Amber answered.

"It's okay. I'm sure mom and Lewis will understand," Sarah replied, "But you two are still coming, right? It's the prefect cover of why we should be together."

"Of course. Since I missed the wedding, it's the least I can do," Rachel said.

"You can count me in too," Emily added, "We can do our homework."

"Thank god, I'm not there," Amber muttered, causing everyone to smile.

* * *

_Amber stood in front of Emily and Sarah. They were at the beach. Amber raised her hand and balled her hand. She saw Sarah hunch over, holding her left hand in pain. A burnt mark showed on her hand. Emily and Sarah stared at Amber astonished. "What's going on here?" Amber thought as she stared at Emily, who seemed to be saying something, but no words came out of her mouth, "Why am I going through this again?"_

_Just then her hand went up again on its own. Panic rose inside her as she tried to regain control of her body. "No, please don't," Amber pleaded silently as she watched her hand form into a fist. Amber could see the horror in her friends' eyes. _

_"Don't," Amber begged as her hand was almost a fist. _

_"Be aware, Amber," a voice rang through the air._

Amber shot up out of her bed, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down her face and she was shaking. "Why?" she breathed, trying to control her breath. It had been a while since she had had that nightmare or, to put it better, memory. After that incident it had haunted her for a long time. Of course, she hadn't told her friends that. How was she supposed to be the tough one in the group, if she told them that she had nightmares? Luckily the nightmares had subsided after a while. Until now at least.

She looked at the clock and groaned. 5 A.M. Way too early for her and yet she knew that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after this. So she got up and dressed. Not knowing what else to do, she went down stairs and made breakfast.

Just as she had finished making the coffee her dad came in. "You're up early," Zane said, surprised when he saw his daughter with a cup of coffee in hand.

"I was just wake," Amber lied as she handed him his own cup. Zane was sure he didn't believed it, but didn't have much time to inquire, since had to get to work soon. After a quick breakfast he was gone.

Amber was reading the newspaper, when Rikki came in. "What are you doing here? Isn't it a bit too early for you?" Rikki asked as Amber's head shot up.

"Why can't anyone believe that I got up early!" Amber exclaimed, causing her mother to stare at her.

"Is everything alright, sweetie?" she asked, sitting down next to her.

"I'm fine. I just woke up early and made breakfast," Amber replied.

"Is that really all?" Rikki questioned.

"Yes," Amber answered annoyed and Rikki gave up on trying to figure out what was wrong with Amber. She knew her daughter would tell her on her own time. "I'm leaving," Amber muttered and got up.

Outside she met Emma and Sarah, who were just coming out of their houses as well. Amber almost froze as she saw her friends. Her nightmare flashed before her inner eye. Shaking her head as she walked up to them. Surprised to see Amber, Emily checked her watch. She was about to open her mouth, but Amber interrupted, "Don't say it." Since it was obvious that Amber wasn't in a good mood, Emily didn't take her chances and didn't say anything.

"So what's your answer?" Sarah asked, trying to get off the topic. The blondes looked at her for a moment.

"I think we should go. We can't let our mermaid halves always stop us from doing what we want," Emily finally answered.

"I'm still not sure. Something could really go wrong. What do you think, Amber?" Sarah questioned the blonde, who until then had just solemnly walked next to them.

Amber looked at her friends, pulled from her daze. "I think we should stay here," Amber replied.

Abruptly Sarah and Emily stopped and stared at their friend. "What?" they both said in unison.

"I think we should stay," Amber repeated.

"But weren't you for going yesterday?" Emily asked, confused.

"I changed my mind. It's too dangerous. There's a full moon during our stay," Amber explained.

"Since when have you cared about something like that? You're the one that's having a date tonight. On the day of the new moon, none the less," Emily reminded her.

Everyone waited for an objection are a challenge to an argument, but none came. "Is everything alright?" Sarah asked, worried.

"I'm fine," Amber muttered and stalked off.

"Watch out!" someone suddenly exclaimed, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. A millimeter before Amber's face a tentacle zoomed past her. Startled Amber stumbled backwards.

Looking for the caller, the girls saw Rachel further up the street. "Hurry!" Rachel yelled and the girls nodded. Turning to the tentacle, they raised their hands and activated their powers. The tentacle that once again lunged forward for an attack, slowed down for a moment, but then broke free of their control and knocked into them, making them fall to the ground. Laying on the ground, they transformed into mermaids. It was about to attack them again, when it began to twitch and shake. Suddenly it exploded.

Looking to the side, they saw Rachel with her hand point to the place where the tentacle was. "Are you guys alright?" she asked as she hurried to their side. They nodded as Rachel slowly dried them off.

A moment later they all stood again. "Thanks, Rachel. That was close," Sarah said.

"You're welcome," Rachel smiled.

"Lucky for us that you were around," Emily added.

Rachel looked at Amber, who seemed to have an emotionless expression on her face and asked, "Is everything alright, Amber?" Instead of answering, Amber hurried off, leaving a confused Rachel. "Did I do something wrong?" Rachel asked, unsure.

"No. Amber has been acting a bit weird today. We're not sure ourselves what's wrong. She won't tell us anything," Sarah answered as they looked at their friend worried.

"I'm sure Amber will tell us once she's ready," Rachel assured them.

"But she even changed her mind about going on the class trip. She said the full moon would be dangerous," Emily objected.

"Really? That's serious. She really wanted to go yesterday. What could have happened since then that she changed her mind?" Rachel wondered and the others shrugged.

"Weird," Rachel muttered after they had walked for a while.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Did you ever have the feeling that you forgot something?" Rachel answered.

"No, why?" Emily replied and Sarah also shook her head.

"I planned on waiting for you at the school gate, cause it's obviously a detour to go this way. That's where I was waiting, but the next thing I remember is seeing you get attacked over there. It's been happening quite a lot lately. I'm in one place one minute and the next thing I know is that I'm somewhere completely different," Rachel explained.

"That's really strange," Emily agreed.

"Are you sure that this hasn't happened before?" Sarah asked.

"Positive. A few months ago I never had something like this. Lately it seems to be happening more and more frequently," Rachel retorted.

"So you're having a memory lapse, so to say," Emily summed it up and Rachel nodded, "How strange."

"But we'll still meet at my house for the new moon, right? Even if we're only three," Sarah made sure and the others nodded.

That evening all four mermaids met at Sarah's house. The new moon had risen during the afternoon and so they were on lock down.

"Well, I guess I'll be going," Amber said, got up from her spot at the kitchen table and walked towards the door. She was about to open it, when Sarah came up behind her.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You've been acting weird today," Sarah asked, referring to the fact, that Amber had hardly said a word to them before, during and after school.

"I already told you I'm fine," Amber answered, annoyed. "I know. It's just… Is something bothering you? If something is, then tell us. We're your friends. We want to help you," Sarah told her. "No," Amber only curtly replied and opened the door.

She was almost out, when Emily appeared next to Sarah. Annoyed Amber turned around and said, "If you're here to tell me to stay, then forget it. I'm going."

"That's not it. I just want to say, take care of yourself," Emily replied.

"I will," Amber promised and with that left.

A while later Amber looked at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in a black dress that went just to her knee. Normally she was ecstatic for the few times in the year that she was allowed to dress up, even if she hid it well. However today she couldn't be happy. The whole day her mind had been revolving around two scenes. The nightmare and the attack of the tentacle. Over and over a voice inside her head repeated, "You're too weak to protect your friends. You can only hurt them."

Just then the doorbell rang. Giving herself one last check, she hurried downstairs, forcing herself to smile. Opening the door, Jordan greeted her with a smile. "You look beautiful," he said, eying her.

"Thanks," she replied, halfheartedly and they kissed.

"Everything alright?" Jordan asked, looking at her worried.

"I'm fine," Amber lied, "So where are we going?"

"It's a secret. Actually, I forgot something at my house, so we'll have to stop by there first," Jordan told her and Amber nodded.

Since Jordan's house was only a few blocks away, they soon arrived there. It was a normal house, though you could tell that there was quite a bit of wealth in his family. "I always find it hard to believe you live here," Amber said, looking around the house.

"Why don't you wait out back? I'll be right there," Jordan suggested as he walked off somewhere.

Amber nodded and walked out back. There she froze. On the patio was a table with lit candles and a few roses petals on it. The silverware shone in the candle light. "What do you think?" Jordan asked, coming up behind her.

"It's amazing," Amber breathed, awestruck, completely forgetting her problems.

"Then come, milady. Dinner awaits," Jordan said in a British accent as he reached his hand. Amber took it with a smile and was led to the table.

After having taken a seat, Jordan lifted the cover from the plate to reveal spaghetti bolognese. "Bon appetite," Jordan told her as he also sat down.

"So who's the cook?" Amber asked, suspiciously.

"Me," Jordan smiled.

"Is it safe to eat?" Amber questioned.

"I've been told I'm a very good chef," Jordan replied. Amber first eyed him and then the food.

Finally she took a bite. Her eyes widened and she said, "This is really good."

"Thanks. It's a family recipe," Jordan told her as they ate.

"It sure is quite around here," Amber observed as she took a sip of water.

"My parents are out. We have the house to ourselves," Jordan replied.

Just then a strong gust of wind picked up, blowing the candles out. As abruptly as the wind came, it died down."Oh great. I'll go look for matches," he told her as he started to get up.

"No, wait. Let me," Amber said as she raised her hand and balled it. The candle lit itself again.

Seeing the candle lit, Amber froze as she realized what she had done. "No," she breathed as fear overtook her.

Jordan looked at his girlfriend confused. "Is everything alright?" he asked, seeing her weird expression.

Abruptly Amber got up. She could hear the thunder in the background. Without another word Amber ran off. Jordan hurried after her. Out on the street he called after her, "Amber!" But Amber didn't hear him and kept running.

Amber ran further down the street, not caring where she ran to. As she came to the end of the road, she had stop to look where to go. Just as she turned to one side a bush burst into flames. Startled she jumped back, staring at the burning bush. Out of the blue another bush closer to the house burst into flames. Terrified Amber turned on her heels and sped off as she could feel more an more things burst into flames.

Reaching the beach, she jumped into the ocean. She only wanted to disappear. Swimming as fast as she could, Amber zoomed off.

* * *

Meanwhile back in Sarah's house, the three mermaids sat in the kitchen. They were playing a round of monopoly, much to Emily's protest, who wanted to do her homework. "I wonder how Amber is doing," Sarah said.

"I'm sure she's fine. Amber can take care of herself," Rachel assured her.

"Yeah, Amber is feisty, to say the least. Say, when are Lewis and Cleo landing?" Emily asked.

Looking at the clock, Sarah answered, "They should be landing soon."

Just then the sound of thunder made them look up. "Thunder? Is there going to be a storm?" Sarah asked, worried as the other two shrugged, "Hopefully mom and Lewis' plane will be allowed to land."

"Don't worry, Sarah. I'm sure they'll land as planned," Rachel reassured her and Emily nodded, adding, "Besides the weather report said that the weather is supposed to be good. I'm sure it'll pass quickly."

"I guess you're right. Plus it's only one flash," Sarah agreed, but suddenly another flash followed by a really loud thunder filled the house. Now Sarah was worried. "This is not good. It's coming closer," she muttered, as thunder and lightning quickly followed one another.

"Hey, mind if I turn on the radio?" Rachel asked and when nobody protested, turned it on.

"…Several gardens and houses are on fire in the southern part of the Gold Coast. Firefighters are on it. People in the area are advised to stay indoors and lock their doors. The police believe that this is the work of a group of arsonists," the reporter said.

"That's not good. That's very close to where we are," Emily muttered.

"Hopefully Amber and Jordan are okay," Sarah said.

"Why not try her phone?" Rachel suggested and the other two nodded.

Sarah pulled out her cell phone and dialed Amber's number. "She's not answering," she told them as she hung up.

"I bet she can't hear it over the noise in the restaurant," Emily replied.

Before Sarah could say anything the doorbell rang. "I bet that's Amber now," Rachel said as Sarah headed to the door.

Opening it, Sarah saw Jordan. "Jor…," she began, but he interrupted her, "What is going on here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sarah replied, confused as Rachel and Emily came to the door.

"Why did Amber suddenly start freaking out, when she used her power?" he demanded. The girls froze. If that was true, then this weather and the fires were not an accident.

"Amber used her powers?" Rachel repeated.

"Where is she?" Emily asked.

"I don't know. She ran away. What is going on here?" Jordan told them.

The girls looked at each other. Finally Sarah said, "Come in. We're not supposed to be outside. Fires are raging not far from here."

* * *

Meanwhile Amber was underwater just off the coast of Mako. She would have gone there, but she knew she would destroy everything, if she went on land. So she stayed there, curled up in a ball, her fin drawn to her chest with her arms slung around her. Amber could hear the thunder and lightning flash at the surface. She knew she would have to stay here until the new moon was gone. Maybe longer.

Just then she had the feeling of being watched and looked up. Not far from her was a shark, swimming around her. It was coming closer and closer. Amber was scared, but she couldn't find the strength to do anything. "Why am I so stupid? I knew the waters were shark infested and yet I'm still here. Didn't someone once say that sharks feed on weak prey?" Amber thought and she shut her eyes as the shark was only a few feet away.

Suddenly the water around her become warm, no, hot. Opening her eyes, Amber could see that the water around her was boiling and the shark had fled. She would have breathed a sigh of relief, if she could. Amber waited for the boiling to stop, but it didn't. Slowly she forced herself to move. She couldn't stay here, because of the shark and the fact that heat could kill the underwater life. Not sure where to go Amber just swam off, out into the Pacific. The only thing she did know was that she had to stay away from everyone. Even her friends.

* * *

"So all this is happening, because Amber used her powers on a new moon?" Jordan recapped, doubtfully, "And the snowstorm and the other storm was because of you too?" The mermaids nodded. They had told him everything after he had told them what had happened. "Why are we still sitting here then? We have to find her," Jordan demanded as he jumped up.

"We can't. The police and fire department have ordered everyone to stay indoors," Emily retorted, stepping in his way.

"Besides, where should we look? Amber could be anywhere," Rachel pointed out.

Jordan dropped back in a chair, buried his head in his hands and cursed. "Why didn't you ever tell us about this? Had we known we could have helped," Jordan asked.

"How could you have helped? All we know is that we can't use our powers on a new moon or we lose them until the moon is gone again," Emily replied.

"I don't know, but it's better than being kept in the dark. Why must you guys be so damn secretive about everything having to do with mermaids?" Jordan objected.

"Stop it you guys. We have other things to worry about," Rachel interrupted them and motioned towards Sarah, who was sitting on a chair as though in a trance. She had checked online and found out that Cleo's and Lewis' plane was still in the air during the storm. The others fell silent and then tried to comfort Sarah as best as they could.

A few hours later it was time. "Ready?" Emily asked and Rachel and Sarah, who was still pretty silent, nodded, "3,2,1, over." The girls sighed.

"Quick," Rachel said as they opened the door. They all raised their hands and activated their powers. Emily cooled the air that had gotten quite hot during the new moon. Rachel let rain clouds come, which put out the fires, while Sarah used her magic to create a wind that blow the thunderclouds and smoke away.

"Thank god, it's over," Emily sighed, "What shall we do about Amber?"

"We have to wait until she's home. She could be anywhere," Rachel replied and they got back inside, after they had bid Jordan farewell.

A hour later the door opened and Cleo and Lewis came in. Relieved Sarah hugged them both. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said with tears in her eyes.

"So are we. That was pretty scary," Cleo replied as they went to the kitchen.

"What happened exactly?" Emily asked.

"We were running low on fuel, because we were staying in the air so long, and if lightning had struck us, the electronics could have short-circuited. Either one could have caused the plane to crash," Lewis explained.

"But couldn't you have flown to another airport?" Rachel questioned.

"No. We were in the middle of the storm and getting out would have been nearly impossible. Not to mention the other airports were all busy landing other planes going to the Gold Coast airport," Cleo replied, "But you should all go to sleep now. It's been an eventful evening. Rachel, Emily, you can stay the night. Where is Amber anyway?"

The girls looked at each other and Sarah replied, "She was on a date with Jordan. I'm guessing she's home now." With that they went upstairs.

The next day Rachel, Sarah and Emily were walking to school. They still hadn't heard anything from Amber. "I hope she's okay," Emily said, worried.

"This is Amber we're talking about. She'll be…," Rachel began, but cut herself off and exclaimed, pointing to the beach, "Look!" Coming towards them from the beach was Amber.

They hurried to her. Up close they could tell Amber was exhausted. She had been swimming the whole night, since she didn't know when the new moon was over and didn't want to chance it. Her dull eyes looked at them. "You guys…," Amber muttered.

Before anyone could say anything, Sarah snapped, "Mom and Lewis could have been killed because of you. Not only them, but many others too and only because you used your powers to light a stupid candle. They could be traumatized for life. This is all your fault, Amber."

Sarah froze, when she realized what she had said. A hand clapped over her mouth. "Amber,…I'm.. I didn't..," Sarah stammered, but Amber interrupted coldly, "Leave me alone." With that Amber turned around and left. The three remaining mermaids stared after Amber shocked.

**A/N:** A dangerous night ends in a disaster. Amber is gone. Can the remaining three convince her to come back or could this be the breaking point for them? Please review.


	12. Regrets

**A/N: I want to thank all my readers and reviewers. Here is chapter 12. Enjoy!**

**Marril96 I'm sorry I'll have to disappoint you. Though I'm not sure about the exact number of chapters yet, it will be around the same amount as the first. I'm glad you like my story.**

_Previously... The memory of when Amber was controlled by Jessica haunts Amber. During the new moon Amber's powers went out of control, causing a large fire and a storm. Sarah worried about Cleo and Lewis, who were caught in the middle of the storm, but luckily they got out well. When Sarah saw Amber after the new moon, she tells Amber that it's all her fault, making Amber run away. Also Rachel confessed that she had been having memory lapses. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 12: Regrets

"I can't believe I did that," Sarah muttered as she rested her head in her palms, "I didn't mean to. I never intended to. It just happened. I guess I just had to vent my fear. It just exploded when I saw Amber." It was after school in Sarah's room. That morning Sarah had snapped at Amber, causing her to run off. They hadn't seen her since. Not at school nor was she home. Emily and Rachel looked at their friend, not sure what to do. On the one hand they were a bit angry with Sarah, because of what she had done. On the other hand they could tell that Sarah truly meant what she was saying.

Finally they sat down beside her and patted her on the back. "It's okay. I'm sure Amber will forgive you," Emily assured her.

"No, she won't. Don't forget she was acting really weird yesterday. Whatever it was it hadn't changed. My insult just made it worse," Sarah objected, "There is no way she'll willingly listen to me and probably not you either."

"Then we'll make her. She can't stay mad at you. Not if you apologize so sincerely," Rachel told her.

"But how will we ever find her? She could be anywhere. Not to mention there is no way we'll be able to find her, if she doesn't want to be found," Sarah protested.

"Well, we won't know, if we don't try, now will we?" Emily asked and meekly Sarah nodded.

"We'll split up so our chances are better," Rachel suggested and the other two agreed.

They got up and left the house. "I think one of us searches the beaches, another the city and the last the water," Rachel proposed.

"Good idea. I'll take the beach, if you don't mind," Sarah said, still looking down, and the others willingly gave her the beach.

"Then I'll take the city. I'll check every shop and alley," Emily replied, trying to assure her friend.

"That leaves the ocean for me then. If we find her, we'll call each other. Lets get going, so we can cover as much ground as possible before it gets dark," Rachel ended and the others nodded in agreement.

They were about to split up, when suddenly someone said, "Ah, there you are girls." They turned to see Rikki walking towards them. The girls gave a quick hello. "Where's Amber? She's always with you," Rikki asked, scanning the group. Emily and Rachel stared at her, while Sarah's face visibly paled. "Is everything alright?" Rikki questioned, seeing their faces.

Rachel was the first to regain her voice. "Everything is fine. We're about to meet up with her at the moon pool. She went ahead. You know how she is," Rachel lied, praying Rikki would buy it.

"Is that so?" Rikki asked and Sarah and Emily nodded their heads. She looked at them for a moment and sighed.

"I'm relieved then. Amber's been acting a bit strange lately. I tried talking to her, but she won't tell me anything. Please, talk to her. I can't stand seeing her like this," Rikki told them, concerned.

"We will," Emily assured her and with that Rikki left.

Sarah stared guiltily at the ground. "I feel awful. Rikki is really worried about Amber and this is all my fault," she muttered.

"Then lets find her, so you can fix this," Rachel replied and the others nodded. They split up, searching for Amber.

Emily turned around one last time and called to her friend, "Sarah! Rikki has put all her faith in us. Lets not disappoint her!" Sarah stared at her friend and nodded, giving a small smile.

* * *

Amber was curled up in a ball, looking at the moon pool. Since that morning after she had run away, she had been there, motionless. What else could she do? Go home so that her mom and yell at her for ditching class? Go to school? She couldn't face Sarah, Emily and Rachel right now. In her head the events of the previous night kept running like a broken record. In the background the things that Sarah had said echo through her. It was like a nightmare from which you couldn't wake up.

The worst thing about the whole situation was that Sarah was right. It was all her fault. She had been stupid and reckless. She had let her guard down and paid for it heavily. "Why? Why was I so stubborn? Had I stayed at home like the others this wouldn't have happened. I should have known that this couldn't go well. I'm just too dangerous," Amber muttered, her eyes not leaving the moon pool. Thoughtfully Amber just sat there. Finally she made a decision and got up, wincing from the numbness in her legs.

"That dumb dream warned me. I should have realized it earlier. I'm way too dangerous to be around the others," Amber muttered, "I'm a loner anyway." Just then something made her look up. Something was off, but she couldn't place it. The place seemed colder, darker almost. The rocks on the wall didn't seem to glow as much as they once had or was she imagining things? Looking up, she saw that the sun was slowly starting to set, but that could hardly be the reason why it felt like this. Shaking her head, Amber dove into the water.

A while later Amber walked up the steps to her house. Suddenly the door opened Rikki hurried up to her, hugging Amber tightly. "Mom… What are you doing?" Amber stammered, surprised by the sudden affection.

"I was worried about you. Are you alright?" Rikki replied, letting go off her daughter to look at her.

"I'm fine, mom," Amber lied as they walked into the house.

"Did Sarah, Emily and Rachel talk to you?" Rikki asked, to which Amber only nodded, "How about some dinner? I made your favorite."

Amber was about to answer when she heard the news reporter on the radio say, "The police are still trying to find arsonists who started the fire in the south of the Gold Coast. The fire did a lot of damage to properties, though no concrete sum has been named yet. Several people were injured, one badly. Though he is still in a critical condition, doctors say he will make it…" Rikki saw her daughter's eyes widen with horror as she heard that.

"I'm not hungry right now. I'll grab something later," Amber told her quickly and hurried upstairs. There she locked her room and tried to get some sleep. However each time she closed her eyes the dark scenes from the previous day haunted her. After a lot of tossing and turning, exhaustion finally took control.

The next day Amber snuck out of the house, not wanting another encounter with her mother nor her father. She walked along the beach, unsure of what to do. Hiding at Mako forever wasn't the answer, but the few hours of sleep hadn't done much to help her regenerate some energy, so she just kept walking, watching the horizon.

Suddenly someone grabbed her arm, causing Amber to turn around. It was Jordan. "You startled me," she said.

"I tried calling you a few times, but you didn't hear me," he replied.

"Listen, I have to go," Amber lied and was about to hurry off, when he grabbed her hand and told her, "I know, Amber. I know about the new moon and you losing your powers." Amber froze and then turned back around to face him. "Sarah told me, when I went looking for you," he explained, seeing the question marks in her eyes, "Why did you go out with me, if you knew that it was so…"

"I have to go," Amber interrupted him and hurried off. Jordan looked after her worried.

* * *

Sarah walked along the beach. Although it promised to be a beautiful day, her mood was dark. So far their search had been unsuccessful, even though they had searched a good part into the night. Exhausted and worried they had all slept in Sarah's room, from where they departed this morning to continue their search. Secretly she was glad that she hadn't been alone that night. Knowing that Emily and Rachel were there, she had the feeling that they didn't hate her clandestinely for what she had said. To make the entire thing even worse, Jordan had told Ryan and Dan of what the new moon does with their powers. To say the least they weren't pleased about being left in the dark, though they didn't seem to mind as much as Jordan. They seemed to understand that some things didn't need to be revealed from the start.

Suddenly her phone rang. She whipped it out. "Hello," Sarah answered, hopefully.

"What happened?" someone demanded, angrily. It was Jordan.

"Jordan, what are you talking about?" she asked, confused.

"What happened between you and Amber? I just ran into her. She was acting really weird and wanted nothing to do with me," he answered.

"You saw her? Where?" Sarah exclaimed.

"What does it matter?" Jordan questioned.

"Jordan please… I really screwed up and I have to make it right again," Sarah pleaded, softly.

Jordan could hear her despair and sighed, "I just saw her walk past me towards the direction of Lewis' old beach house."

"Thank you, Jordan. I swear I'll explain it to you later, if you want," Sarah told him, "Bye."

"Wait," he said, making Sarah pause, "Whatever happened, Sarah, it shook Amber really badly. Please, do whatever you can to make her happy again."

"I will, Jordan. I promise," Sarah assured him and hung up.

Quickly Sarah dialed Emily's number as she hurried towards Amber's destination. "Emily, Jordan saw Amber. She's heading for Lewis' old home. I'll meet you there," Sarah told her friend as fast as she could.

"I'll be there as quickly as I can," Emily replied and they hung up.

* * *

Rachel blinked twice and looked around. She was at the moon pool. "How did I get here? Wasn't I looking for Amber?" she muttered, confused, but then it dawned on her, "It happened again. I had a memory lapse." She looked down into the moon pool. At the bottom she could see the meteoroid. Rachel tried to think back. What was her last memory before she lapsed? She remembered departing from Sarah's house, but then… nothing.

Suddenly she had the feeling that she was being watched and looked up, searching the cave, but nobody was there. "Amber?" she questioned, unsure, but no one answered, even though she could swear someone was there.

"Who's there?" Rachel demanded, raising her hand in case of an attack, but no reply came, "I know you're here."

No one came forth. She shook her head. "Great. Now I'm not only losing my memory, but my sanity too," Rachel muttered, lowering her hand.

Suddenly her phone rang. It was Sarah. "Sarah," Rachel answered it, "You found Amber. That's great… Lewis' old home… Yeah, I know where that is, but it'll take me a while. I'll see you there."

* * *

Sarah could see Amber not far in front of her. She really was heading for the beach house, which she could see in the distance. Sarah thought of confronting her right then and there, but decided against it. First of all she had promised Rachel and Emily to wait for them to arrive before she talked to Amber, in case something happened. Second of all she wouldn't have known what to say. It was more the later than the former that made her keep her presence unknown.

Suddenly someone tapped Sarah on the shoulder, causing her to jump into the air and give a startled cry. It was Emily. "You scared me," Sarah said.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to do that. Where is Amber?" Emily asked.

Sarah pointed forward, but Amber was gone. "She must be in the house," Sarah answered.

"Do we wait for Rachel?" Emily questioned.

Shaking her head, Sarah replied, "No, we don't have the time, Rachel said it would take her a while to get here. What if Amber is gone by then? This is our only chance." Emily thought about it for a moment and nodded.

Quietly they crept up to the house and peeked inside. No Amber. Emily opened the door and they stepped inside. The hall was empty, but they heard a noise coming from their left, from the living room. When they stepped into the door, they saw Amber lying on a couch, eyes closed. "Amber," Sarah said, making Amber's eyes snap open and stare at them.

Quickly Amber jumped up from the couch. "What do you want? I thought you didn't want anything to do with me. Leave," Amber snapped, staring at them.

"This isn't your house," Emily retorted.

"Fine, then I'll leave," Amber said and turned to the only other door in the room that led outside.

Before Amber could leave, Emily froze the door. "Let me out," Amber demanded, rattling the doorknob.

"Not until you listen to us," Emily retorted.

"To me," Sarah corrected.

"Why should I listen to you? According to you, I'm dumb, irresponsible and a danger to everyone," Amber reminded her, harshly.

Guiltily Sarah averted her eyes from her friend, but then objected, "I never meant that."

"It sure sounded like you did," Amber retorted.

"Okay, I did. Back then. It was a spur of the moment, but I regretted it immediately. Amber, you're my friend and I could never think that you would do something like that on purpose or would want something like that. I feel terrible for it. Please, forgive me," Sarah told her, the guilt clearly coming through in her voice.

Amber looked at her rattled friend and her eyes softened a bit. "Okay, I forgive you," she said.

"Thank you," Sarah whispered, relief flooding her.

"Lets go find Rachel. I'm sure she'll be glad to hear this," Emily suggested.

"I can't come with you," Amber objected, distancing herself again.

"Why not?" Sarah asked, confused.

"My powers are too dangerous. This and my dream prove that. You saw what they did. You were right about everything you said. It was all my fault. My powers are the most dangerous and I should behave that way," Amber explained.

"Dream?" Sarah repeated, confused.

"I had a dream, well, it was more a memory from back when Jessica controlled me," Amber told them, something creeping into her eyes. Fear? Emily and Sarah both knew which moment she meant.

Subconsciously Sarah touched the spot that had fallen prey to Amber's attack back then. "That's in the past. Nothing like that will happen again," Sarah replied.

"Even so, the new moon could," Amber retorted.

"We've all been moonstruck before. We've all dealt with our powers going out of control. We'll deal with it now," Emily objected.

"No, we can't. What's the worst thing your powers did? Yours caused us to have a snow day and the worst thing yours did was uproot a tree or two. I nearly killed someone. How do you intend to deal with that?" Amber told them, almost a bit hysterical. Only did Sarah and Emily see how much this had shaken their friend.

"I don't know, but we will. We won't leave you to face this on your own. You can't and you don't have to. Everyone needs friends to lean on. We'll always be there for you," Sarah assured her. Amber looked from one friend to another and then sunk to her knees, letting out a shaking breath. Sarah and Emily came over to her and hugged her. A tear rolled down Amber's face, but no one saw it.

After a while they broke up the hug. "Thank you," Amber said, quietly.

"That's what friends are for," Emily smiled, "Lets go look for Rachel now." They nodded and walked to the door, which was now unfrozen again.

Suddenly Amber stopped. "Damn, I was dumb," Amber muttered as she hit herself.

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"I could have unfrozen the door," Amber replied. They stared at her for a moment and then they burst out laughing.

"Hey guys, I have to go somewhere. Will you come with me?" Amber asked as they walked out and she looked at the ocean.

"Sure. Where to?" Sarah asked.

"Just follow me," Amber replied and walked off. Sarah and Emily shared a confuse look, shrugged and followed their friend.

"Guys!" someone called out and stopped next to them. It was Rachel. She looked from one friend to another and smiled, "You made up? I'm glad." Sarah nodded. "Where are we going?" Rachel asked.

"Amber wouldn't tell us," Emily answered and so they followed her.

A while later they stopped in front of a hospital. "A hospital? Is this…?" Emily began and Amber ended, "This is the hospital where the guy who I injured was sent to. I have to see him."

Her three friends looked at her, worried. "You want us to come along?" Rachel asked.

Amber shook her head and replied, "No, thanks. This is something I have to do alone."

She walked up to the hospital. "Amber," Sarah called after her, "We'll be waiting for you here." A smile spread across Amber's face and then she disappeared in the hospital.

Inside Amber, after asking a nurse, walked down a hall. She stopped in front of a door. Through the window she could see boy about her age laying in a hospital bed and she clapped her hands over her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. He was covered in bandages and was breathing through a mask. Next to the unconscious boy sat a woman and a man, his parents most likely, each holding a hand. Amber took a few steps back and had to force herself not to run away. Just then a doctor walked past her and she asked, "Excuse me, could you tell me how he is?"

Apparently Amber looked horrible enough to be confused as one of the boy's friends and the doctor answered, "Of course. He's still in a coma, but from what we can tell, he will be alright. Though he has several burns, some worse than others, and inhaled a lot of smoke, none of it is too serious that it should effect him long term." Relief flooded Amber and she thanked the doctor.

When she walked back outside, her friends came up to her. "How is he?" Emily asked, worried.

"He's still unconscious, but the doctor says that he'll be alright," Amber told them the good news, getting sighs of relief from them as well.

"So shall we go for a swim?" Rachel suggested and the others nodded.

"Rachel!" someone suddenly exclaimed. The girls turned around.

Rachel's eyes widened when they fell on the caller. "Alex," she said astonished, a big smile spreading across her face, "Oh my god, what are you doing here?" She ran up to the boy and hugged him.

"It's great to see you too," the boy, Alex, finally replied when Rachel let go off him.

"What are you doing here? How are things back home?" Rachel bombarded him with questions.

"Who are your friends?" Alex interrupted her.

Sheepishly Rachel realized that she had completely forgotten about Emily, Sarah and Amber. "Oh sorry. Alex, these are my friends Sarah, Emily and Amber. Friends, this is my childhood friend, Alex," Rachel introduced them, pointing at them as they were called. The girls looked at Alex interested. He had blond hair with green eyes. After the pleasure to meet you's were exchanged, Rachel said, "So you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"

"Long story short, I'm an exchange student for a bit, so you'll be seeing more of me than you'll like," Alex replied.

"That's awesome," Rachel smiled, her eyes shining.

"Look at the time. I have to go," Amber said, looking at the invisible watch on her wrist.

"How funny. Me too," Sarah added.

"I forgot I wanted to help my mom with… something," Emily quickly told them.

"Nice to meet you, Alex. We'll see you around. Bye," the girls said and quickly left, leaving a confused Rachel.

"That was strange," Rachel muttered.

"They seem really nice. I'm glad you made such great friends. You really seem to feel at home here," Alex told her as they walked off.

"They are great and the Gold Coast is really nice, though it can never take the place of our hometown. Speaking of which, how is everyone?" Rachel asked. For a while Alex entertained Rachel's boatloads of questions as they walked along the beach.

"No way. I can't believe I missed that. Why do all the good things happen when I'm gone," Rachel laughed at the story, Alex had just told.

Looking at the setting sun, Alex suddenly asked, "You know the reason why I came to the Gold Coast?" Surprised Rachel shook her head. "I wanted to see you, Rachel. Back home nothing is the same without you. I really missed you. My only regret is that it took me this long to realize how much you mean to me," Alex told her, a bit uncertain.

"I missed you too, but we'll always be best friends no matter how much distance is between us," Rachel replied, not noticing anything.

"That's not what I'm trying to say, Rachel. I want to be more than friends," Alex said and then took a deep breath, "I love you, Rachel."

**A/N: **Amber is back and a confession makes for the happy end. How will Rachel react? What about Rachel's mermaid half? Could something turn everything upside down? Please review.


	13. Two Faced

**A/N: I'm glad I'm able to upload today, cause school has been really brutal. I have so many exams to study for and I have to write a 20 page report. Not fun. At least knowing that I've uploaded makes me feel better. A thanks to all those that read and review. Here is chapter 13. Enjoy!**

_Previously... After blaming Amber for what she did during the new moon and making her run away, Sarah feels guilty. They're finally able to find her and make up. Also Rachel's childhood friend Alex appears as an exchange student and tells her that he loves her. On another note, a class trip is being planned. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 13: Two Faced

"So, what did he say?" Amber asked, curiously, giving Rachel an intrigued look. They were walking to school the next morning.

"Who? You mean Alex? Not much. He told me that everyone back home is doing fine," Rachel answered. Amber rolled her eyes and Sarah questioned, "Did he tell you anything else?"

Rachel shook her head and replied, "No, what should he have said?"

"I don't know. Something that might be important to him," Emily suggested.

"Well… He did say something," Rachel finally confessed, "He said… He said that he loved me."

The other three mermaids grinned broadly, closed in on Rachel, and asked, "And? What did you say?"

"Nothing," Rachel said and quickened her pace.

"Wait. What do you mean nothing?" Amber demanded as they hurried after Rachel.

"Exactly what nothing means. I didn't say anything," Rachel replied.

"Why not?" Sarah inquired.

"What was I supposed to say?" Rachel retorted.

"How about I love you?" Amber suggested.

"It's not that simple. Alex and I have been friends since we were in diapers. Suddenly saying that I love him could ruin everything. I mean even if we did get together, what if we have a fight and break up? We could never go back to what we were before," Rachel objected.

"Alex said it to you. He wouldn't have said it, if he wasn't sure that you could weather anything," Emily told her.

"Or could it be that you don't see Alex as a lover, but just as a friend?" Amber asked, "Cause if that's the case, then tell him. It's not fair that you leave him hanging like that."

"I'm just not sure. I never thought about Alex like that. In my head he's still that little boy who I would play hide and seek with," Rachel answered.

"Well, I have a newsflash. That little boy has grown up," Amber said, a little annoyed, making Rachel uncomfortable.

"That's enough, Amber," Emily interrupted.

"No, she's right. I can't pretend like nothing has changed since back then, but even if I do realize that I love him, there is still a problem," Rachel replied.

"Which is?" Sarah asked.

"I'm a mermaid, remember? How can I go out with him, if I always have to look out for water?" Rachel answered.

"That's your problem? That you're a mermaid? We've all told our boyfriends that we're mermaids, so why shouldn't you?" Amber pointed out and Sarah and Emily nodded, "Or do you not trust Alex? If that's the case, then you can forget your relationship."

"No, that's not. I trust Alex implicitly. It's just, it's not my secret to share. It's just as much your secret as it is mine. I won't tell him, if you have anything against it," Rachel said.

"We don't have a problem with it, do we?" Sarah asked, looking at her friends, who both showed they were fine with it.

"Thank you," Rachel smiled, "Once I know how I feel, I'll tell Alex."

"Don't take too long, cause here he comes now," Amber told her as she pointed forward to Alex, who was waiting for them at the school gate. Seeing him Rachel's face flushed bright red.

"We'll be going on ahead," Emily said and quickly they hurried off, leaving Rachel alone.

Alex walked up to her and said, "Morning, Rachel."

"M-Morning," she muttered, unsure.

"So have you thought about what I said yesterday?" he asked, making Rachel's heart beat twice as fast.

"I… Well…," she stammered, but then said, "I have to get to class. See you later." Quickly Rachel ran off before Alex could do anything.

Reaching her classroom, Amber, Sarah and Emily eyed her. "And?" they asked.

"I couldn't do it," Rachel replied and Amber shook her head, sighing.

"We'll work on that," Sarah assured her.

"It's not easy, but together we'll get you there," Emily smiled.

"Good morning, everyone," Mr. Martin said as he walked into the classroom and his class chorused a reply, "I hope you all have a good morning. I won't keep you in homeroom long."

After he talked about a few things, he dismissed them. The girls were almost out the door, when Mr. Martin called, "Rachel, Sarah, Emily, Amber, could you come here for a moment." Confused they walked over to the teacher's desk.

"I want to remind you that you haven't handed in your permission slips for the field trip yet or are you not coming? Everyone else has already handed theirs in," Mr. Martin asked.

The girls stood there shocked, exchanging nervous glances. "We didn't forget," Rachel began, carefully, not sure how they were supposed get around explaining that water and them didn't mix.

"Is it possible that one of you has financial problems and you don't want to expose her or make her feel left out?" the teacher questioned.

"No, that's not it," Sarah protested.

Mr. Martin eyed them, confused. "Very well. You have until tomorrow to hand in the permission slips or you won't come along," he told them. The girls nodded and took that as their sign that they were dismissed.

"Ah, Rachel," Mr. Martin called after them and she turned around, "You are friends with the new exchange student, Alex, right?"Immediately Rachel's face turned bright red, but she nodded. The teacher handed her a permission slip and told her, "He'll also be in your science class. I thought he would also like to come along. If you hand it to him, he'll have more time to think about it." Rachel nodded, took it and then the girls left.

"Well, aren't you lucky," Amber smiled.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Now you have a reason to talk to Alex and you can carefully change the subject to the confession," Sarah explained, grinning.

"Listen, I agree that we have to help Rachel find her feelings for Alex and be able to express them, but we have to make a decision," Emily reminded them.

Just then the bell rang. "We can think about it during class and decide during lunch," Rachel said, glad for Emily's change of topic and with a wave, left her friends.

A few periods later it was lunch time. Rachel was at their usual lunch spot a bit earlier and found it to still be empty. Sitting down she looked at the sky. Did she love Alex? Now that he had confessed to her she didn't see him as the little child that he had once been, but did she love him? Sure, her heart now raced when she saw him, but that could just be embarrassment. What would it be like, if they did go out? What if she rejected him? Could they still be friends? In a way she wished that he had never confessed, that he had never come to the Gold Coast.

"Earth to Rachel," someone said, waving their hand in front of Rachel's face, making her snap back to reality. She looked at Alex's face that was only a few inches from her own. Startled Rachel jumped up.

"You startled me," she breathed.

"Sorry, but I called you several times," Alex replied.

"It's not your fault," Rachel said, "What do you want?"

"I wanted to know, if you would like to go swimming after school like the good old days?" he asked.

"No way," Rachel answered, a little too quickly and too fiercely, "I mean, thanks but no. I have a lot of stuff to do."

"Are you avoiding me? Is it because of what I did?" Alex asked, looking into her eyes. Rachel blushed and looked past him to see Emily, Sarah and Amber. Amber was shaking three fingers in the air and Sarah mouthed the words I love you. Emily tried to stay neutral, knowing it was hard enough for Rachel, but she too had the look of, say it.

Rachel's mind was going haywire and finally she answered, "Look there's the girls."

All three girls shook their head, but then walked up to them. "Hey," they greeted, "Hope we're not interrupting anything."

"No, nothing," Alex said, visibly disappointed, "I'll get going."

"Oh, wait. Mr. Martin, our science teacher, wanted me to give you this," Rachel remembered and handed him the permission slip, "It's a trip to the Great Barrier Reef."

"Thanks. I'll think about it," he told her and left.

"That chance was gold. You should have taken it," Sarah hissed when Alex was out of range.

"I know, but I'm not sure, if I like him," Rachel replied.

"Rachel, if you keep this up, you'll drive him away," Amber said.

"I agree with them. Alex is a great guy and I think he's getting fainthearted," Emily agreed.

"I know," Rachel whispered, but then changed the subject, "So what will we do?"

The girls sighed, but didn't say anything else. Rachel needed time. "So do we hand them in?" Sarah asked.

"I have to say that although there is a full moon, I think we should go. It's the Great Barrier Reef for crying out loud," Amber replied.

"Like I said before I was there before. I'm fine with either decision," Rachel said.

"I have to be honest. I think that going during the full moon is dangerous, but…," Emily began.

"But?" the other three smiled, hopefully.

"But I think we should go. Swimming through the reef would be real nice," Emily ended and the rest cheered.

"So it's official. We're going," Sarah cheered.

"That was almost too easy," Rachel said, thoughtfully.

"You're right. Why is that?" Sarah asked, turning to the two blondes.

"Because, I've learned that trust is the most important thing. I trust you. As long as we trust each other, nothing will cross our path that we can't conquer," Emily explained, smiling at Amber.

"And I trust you. We may bud heads from time to time, but we'll always be there for one another," Amber replied.

"Trust, huh," Rachel repeated, thoughtfully.

"Is something the matter, Rachel?" Sarah asked, looking at her friend.

"I have to go. There's something I need to do," Rachel replied and the others understood.

"You can do it," they smiled and winked at her.

Having asked her way through several students, Rachel finally found Alex at the beach, staring out at the waves. "Alex," she said, coming up to him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not turning to her.

"I still owe you an answer," Rachel replied, making Alex whirl around. "You are my best friend. I trust you from the bottom of my heart. That trust is not only important for the secret, but for things that are even greater," she thought, looking at Alex.

"Only a while ago I only looked at you as my childhood friend, but when you confessed that veil was lifted," Rachel said, "I was very unsure what I felt for you, but now I know… I love you." A smile spread across Alex's face and he hugged her, whispering, "I'm so glad."

"I'm sorry, Alex. I can't tell you the whole truth just yet. I'll tell you the secret once this has settled down a bit," Rachel thought as he hugged her.

Finally they separated and they walked to school, holding hands the entire way. When they reached the school, Sarah, Emily and Amber were waiting at the gate. "I think you're being awaited. I'll go on ahead," Josh said, gave Rachel a peck on the cheek and walked off.

"So? Do you have good news?" Emily asked.

"I guess you could call it that. We're now together," Rachel beamed.

"Congratulations," the girls said, smiling at their friend.

"So how did Alex take the whole mermaid thing?" Sarah questioned, curiously.

Rachel's glowing dimmed a bit and she looked to the side. "You haven't told him? Why?" Amber demanded.

"I think it's too much at once. What should I have said? Alex, I love you and by the way I'm part fish. Not really the best way to start of a relationship," Rachel retorted and the others had to admit she had a point, "I'll tell him soon, but not yet. First the confession has to sink in."

Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of break. The girls said their good byes and walked to their respective class.

* * *

That evening Sarah, Emily and Amber were at Sarah's house. They were in the kitchen, sitting around the table. Sarah and Emily were talking together, while Amber sat a bit of to the side solemnly. "I'm glad Rachel finally found the courage to tell him the truth. They look really cute together," Sarah smiled, still thinking about Rachel and Alex's beaming faces.

"I agree. They make a good couple. I bet Alex will be fine with the fact that Rachel is a mermaid, once she tells him. I'm sure Alex won't betray the trust she has put in him," Emily agreed and turned to the other blond, "Right Amber?"

"Hm? What?" Amber asked, snapping out of her daze.

"What's the matter?" Sarah asked, looking at her friend a bit worried.

"It's nothing really. Just can't get this feeling out of my head," Amber answered, slowly, not wanting them to worry.

"Feeling?" the other two repeated, confused.

"Have either of you been to Mako in the past few days?" Amber questioned.

"No, Rachel was when she was looking for you, but not us," Emily recalled, "Why?"

"When I ran away, I was at the moon pool for a bit. It seemed weird. Colder and darker. Something was off, but maybe it was just the setting sun. I think I might just be crazy, but I can't get it out of my head," Amber explained.

"Well, I won't argue with you about the crazy part, but I can't think of any reason why the moon pool would change," Emily teased Amber, granting her a playful glare from the blond.

"Why not ask Rachel? She must have noticed it too, since she was there," Sarah suggested and the blondes nodded.

They got up to leave when Cleo called from upstairs, "Sarah, could you dry the dishes for me? I'll put them away, you just have to dry them."

"Sure," Sarah replied and stepped over to the drying rack, where the dishes were stacked, "This should only take a second." She raised her hand and activated her power. A small wind began to blow. Sarah frowned and turned her hand more. Finally she stopped and turned to her friends, saying, "Something isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked, confused.

"It took way too long to dry. I remember that the last time I did this I nearly knocked the dished over and now my full strength barely gets them dry," Sarah explained, thoughtfully.

"Maybe you're imagining things?" Amber suggested.

"You try," Sarah replied, taking a glass of water from the counter and dumping it over Amber's head. Emily's eyes widened, surprised at Sarah's action, as Amber dropped to the ground as a mermaid.

"What was that for? Just wait until I get back up," Amber snapped and balled her hand. Strangely enough she didn't almost instantly turn back into a human. Only a good moment later did she stand in front of her friends again, staring at her fist. "That took way too long. You're right, Sarah," Amber agreed, perplexed.

"Let me try," Emily said and turned to a second glass on the counter, which's content was still in it and not on Amber's head. Putting out her hand as a stop sign, Emily began freezing the water. Just like Sarah and Amber it took a good time longer. "Something is definitely wrong," Emily muttered.

"It's like we're losing out powers," Sarah said, worried.

"But why? There's no new nor full moon today. Plus it's more like our powers are fading, not going away to come back later," Emily replied, thoughtfully.

"Well, now we have two reasons to look for Rachel. To ask her about the moon pool and now about her powers," Amber told them and the others nodded.

They set out towards Rachel's house. On their way they saw a still beaming Alex coming towards them. "Hey, Alex. Have you seen Rachel?" Emily asked.

"Rachel. I think she said that she wanted to go to the beach for a bit," he answered.

"Thanks," Sarah smiled.

"I should be thanking you. It was thanks to you that Rachel realized how she felt, right? When it comes to love Rachel can be pretty dense," Alex replied and the girls had to smother a laugh. Alex really knew Rachel inside out. They were perfect for each other.

Walking up to the beach, they saw it was deserted, except for a lone figure a bit further down the beach. Rachel. Her back was turned to them and she was looking at the water. They walked towards her and were about to call out to her when they saw what was in front of her, causing them to freeze in horror. A tentacle rose from the water, towering over Rachel.

"A tentacle. We have to help her," Sarah said, but something was strange. The tentacle wasn't attacking Rachel, it was just floating there, moving from side to side. Only then did the girls see that Rachel was using her powers, the tentacle following her hand motions, but sometimes doing things on its own.

"How?" Emily muttered, confused. It was clearly the same tentacle that always attacked them. It had a similar darkness to it.

Suddenly Rachel turned to them and a creepy smile crossed her lips. "So you found out," she said, but somehow she seemed different.

"What is going on here?" Sarah asked.

"Can't you tell? I'm controlling the tentacle," Rachel replied, nonchalant, not taking her eyes of her friends.

"But that's not possible. At least not unless…," Emily began as it dawned on her, but Rachel interrupted, "Unless I created them. Bingo."

"You're behind those tentacle attacks?" Amber asked, shocked.

"You're pretty slow," Rachel remarked, coolly.

"But why? You're our friend," Sarah protested, confused.

"Take a good guess," Rachel smirked.

"You're just as twisted as your mother was," Amber spat, getting angry.

"It runs in the family, I guess," Rachel shrugged, "Then I guess you won't be surprised, if I do this."

With a motion of her hand, the tentacle shot towards Amber, Emily and Sarah. They threw up their hands and activated their magic, but it didn't seem to have any effect and the tentacle knocked them to the ground. When the girls got up, Rachel and the tentacle were gone. "What just happened?" Sarah asked, taken back.

Amber looked at her friends and replied, "I think we've just been backstabbed."

**A/N:** The girls' powers are most likely fading and Rachel is apparently not the friend they had believed to be. With their enemy now unmasked and the class trip coming up, what will Sarah, Emily and Amber do? Please review.


	14. Class Trip Part 1

**A/N: F****irst of all Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! Finally vacation. How I longed for this. To do nothing, but relax and write. I'm thrilled that the 100 reviews mark was broken. ****A huge thanks to all the readers and reviewers. ****Hope everyone has great holidays. Here is chapter 14. Enjoy!**

**Marril96: In truth I haven't thought about making a sequel. Up until now I had planned for this to be the last "season". However, if people want another season AND I have an idea for it, I can imagine myself making another. **

_Previously... Rachel's childhood friend, Alex, came to the Gold Coast and he confessed to her. Rachel didn't know her own feelings and tried to avoid him, although the girls encouraged her to tell him how she feels.__ She finally confesses to Alex,__ but keeps her mermaid half a secret. They also agreed to go on the class trip to the Great Barrier Reef. The girls however realize that they're losing powers and they find out that it was Rachel, who was responsible for the tentacle attacks. Now on to the chapter.  
_

Chapter 14: Class Trip Part 1

"This is crazy. We shouldn't be doing this," Emily said, looking at her friends. Amber, Sarah and Emily stood in the entrance hall to the Gold Coast train station.

"Oh, come on, Emily. Where is your sense of adventure?" Amber asked.

"Sense of adventure? This is a death wish," Emily hissed.

"It won't be that bad. She isn't dumb enough to pull any sort of stunt while normal people are around," Amber replied.

"If she's anything like her mother, I wouldn't bet on it. If Rachel does attack, we have no means to defend ourselves or did you forget that your powers are slowly, but surely disappearing?" Emily retorted.

"No, I did not forget. How could I? You've been mentioning it a lot," Amber told her and turned to the brunette, "Sarah, say something."

Sarah looked from one blond to the other. Like always they were arguing and she was stuck in the middle. She didn't want to hurt either one. "Well, I do agree that it could be dangerous, not just because of Rachel. What if we accidentally touch water while we're with the others are around?" Sarah said and then looked around, "However… I think it's too late to back out."

Amber and Emily turned their heads to see Mr. Martin and Coach , their chaperons for the trip, coming towards them. "Girls, if you don't hurry, we'll leave without you," he told them as he handed them each a ticket and hurried off. The girls looked at each other with a sigh, picked up their bags and then walked after them.

Soon they stood on the platform with the rest of their class. The girls scanned the crowd for their former friend and found her at the far side of the crowd with her boyfriend, Alex. "It doesn't look like she cares, if we're here or not. Lets just try to enjoy ourselves," Sarah said and Emily reluctantly nodded as they got onto the train. Luckily the train had rows of three, so there were no questions of why the up until now inseparable group of four, suddenly only consisted of three. The train ride took over 12 hours during which a variety of things was done. From talking, reading books to just sleeping everything was represented.

Finally they arrived at the train station in Cairns. The sun was already setting. Taking a bus, they soon arrived at their hotel, which had several floors. It was right on the beach and very close to the city center. After the teachers had gotten the keys from the reception they turned back to the anticipating students. "There are rooms of three. They will be assigned by us," Mr. Martin began and Coach continued, "It goes without saying that boys will not go into the girls rooms after lights out and vice-versa. Lights out is at 11. Any disregard to these rules and you will be sent home on the double."

"I'll be handing out the keys," Mr. Martin said and began listing the groups, "Amber, Sarah, Emily, you will room together. Sorry, I know you're good friends with Rachel, but it's not possible."

"That's okay. We'll manage," Amber replied and took their key.

When all the formalities were cleared, they were allowed into their rooms. It was a nice normal sized room with a bathroom, closet and three beds. Sarah hurried to the window and said, "Come here! You can see the Great Barrier Reef from here." Emily and Amber followed and also gasped. It really was a beautiful sight to behold. The sun was setting, making the reef glow.

"Now say that you aren't glad you came," Amber smiled.

"Okay, I admit. I'm glad came," Emily gave in and the girls smiled at each other. They talked for a moment longer, but soon went to bed.

_Sarah was in a raging ocean, nothing but water around her. "What is this place?" she muttered, scared as a strong gust of wind made her hair fly everywhere and she tried to keep afloat. "You have come," a voice rang through the air, overpowering even the wind with ease. _

_"Who are you? Where are you?" Sarah asked and looked around, but no one was there. Suddenly the water pulled her under. _

_"Come to me," the voice only replied. _

_"But I don't know where you are," Sarah objected in her mind. Then she had run out of air._

Taking a deep breath, Sarah shot up from her bed. She saw the worried eyes of her friends from their bed in the dawn. "Is everything alright?" Emily asked, worried.

"Yeah, it was just a dream," Sarah answered, waving off their concern.

"What was it about?" Emily questioned.

"I was in a storm, drowning in the ocean," Sarah recalled.

"You do remember you are a mermaid? You can't drown that easily," Amber reminded her and Sarah had to smiled.

"Yeah, but there was also a voice. She told me to come to her," Sarah told them, confused, "What could it mean?"

The blondes shrugged. "I don't know, but I do know that we should get dressed. Breakfast is soon," Emily replied and the other two agreed.

Today a tour of Cairns was on the agenda. Cairns was a beautiful city with old and new things. The harbor, where the class had lunch, gave a stunning view of the ocean. In the afternoon they had free time to walk around. Sarah, Emily and Amber were walking along the less crowded streets. "We have to remember the time," Emily reminded them, "We have to be back in the hotel before the moon rises. Being moonstruck here would be really bad."

The other two nodded. "We still have time before that Where should we go? How about that shop?" Amber suggested.

"Good idea," Sarah agreed and they walked towards it.

Suddenly someone stepped in their way. It was Rachel. "Hi," she said, coolly.

"We're not going to fight you. Not in front of these people," Sarah replied, softly, motioning towards the people.

"Trust me, if I wanted a fight, a few people wouldn't stop me. No, I'm not here to fight. I'm here to warn you," Rachel retorted and then muttered, threateningly, "Don't get in my way."

"Then don't get in ours," Amber hissed.

"There you are, Rachel," Alex said, appearing out of no where, "I was wondering where you went of to. Don't forget that we're not supposed to wonder of on our own."

"Right, sorry. I just saw Sarah, Emily and Amber here and had to talk to them," Rachel replied, sweetly. The girls were amazed with how much ease Rachel was able to pull off a three-sixty.

"Why don't you join us?" Alex offered.

"Thanks, but no. We still have some stuff to do and we wouldn't want to disturb your time together," Amber answered as nicely as she could, which still wasn't very nice. Alex looked at her a bit, but then took Rachel by the hand and they walked off.

"Wait!" Emily called after them, "Don't forget that tonight is the full moon." Rachel didn't show any reactions and just walked.

"What did she mean with that?" was the last thing they heard Alex ask before they were gone.

"Why did you warn her? Not like she'll listen to us," Amber asked.

"It doesn't matter. Better safe than sorry," Emily answered.

"Maybe we should tell Alex to be careful around Rachel," Sarah wondered.

"And how exactly will we do that? Should we say, hey, Alex. Listen you should stay away from Rachel, cause she's an evil mermaid, who wants to kill us, just like her mother," Amber retorted, sarcastically.

"Besides I don't think Rachel will harm Alex. She really cares for him, as a lover and a friend," Emily added and Sarah nodded, solemnly.

* * *

That evening Emily, Sarah and Amber hurried down the hall of the hotel towards their room. "We have to hurry. The moon is rising soon," Amber said.

"Well, whose fault is that? If you hadn't gone into that last store, we would have caught the earlier bus and not have to rush," Emily reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah," Amber muttered.

"Lets just hurry" Sarah interrupted them as they turned the last corner to their room.

Suddenly they had to come to a screeching stop, when Alex came out of no where. "Alex," they muttered, "You scared us."

"Sorry. You in a hurry? I won't keep you long. I just want to talk to you for a moment," he told them.

"What is it?" Amber asked.

"Actually, it's about Rachel," he began, unsure, "I know you might consider it rude that I come to you instead of go to Rachel herself, but I can't go to her. Lately she hasn't been acting like herself. I'm worried. Have you noticed anything like that?"

The girls looked at him. He really was a good friend. "I'm sure it's nothing. You were right to come to us. We'll keep an eye on her," Sarah lied and hated herself for doing it. Alex was such a sweet guy.

"Sorry, but we have to go," Emily said and he nodded, understandingly.

"Thanks," Alex replied and left.

As soon as he was gone, the girls stormed into their room, locked it and barricaded themselves inside, so that not a single ray of light came in. They sat there in silence, each going after their own thoughts. The sudden noise outside of their door and then someone knocking on their door, ordering them to open up, was the first thing that made them come back to the real world.

Unlocking their room, they saw that in the hall the whole class was present. "Thanks for joining us," Coach said, slightly annoyed.

"Is something the matter?" Sarah asked.

"There is a strong wind outside. We have been ordered not to leave the hotel anymore today. It's too dangerous. The ocean is also in an uproar," Mr. Martin told them. Amber, Sarah and Emily stared at one another. It couldn't be… Carefully they gazed across the crowd. They didn't see Rachel. "That is all," Mr. Martin ended and walked off.

"How scary. You know what I heard? That a ship ran ground because of the storm and it got damaged. Oil is now leaking out of it and because of the unfavorable current, it's heading straight for the Great Barrier Reef," a girl from their class said.

"That's really bad. Is it that much?" another inquired.

"Yes, at least that's what they said on the radio. It will devastate the reef. The worst part is that they can't do anything about it. The storm is too strong," the first one answered.

Emily, Sarah and Amber quickly fled back into their room. They hurried over to their window and carefully opened the blinds. Although it was stormy outside, the sky was clear, but luckily the moon was overhead, so that it was no threat. "This must be Rachel's doing. She's forcing us to act," Amber muttered annoyed, slamming a onto the windowsill while looking out at the sea.

"Rachel can't possibly be doing this on purpose. She must have gotten moonstruck," Emily replied.

"It doesn't matter, if she's doing it on purpose or not. We have to do something. In that storm no one will be able to help that ship. If it's really losing oil, then the Great Barrier Reef is in trouble," Sarah said.

"But if we get moonstruck then things can only get worse," Emily objected.

"We have to risk it. We're the only people that can help right now," Sarah pointed out and looked at her friends, "If you won't help me, then I'll go alone." With that Sarah walked to the door.

Before she could even reach it, she felt both her hands being taken. Looking to either side, she saw Amber and Emily. "Like hell we'll let you do this alone," Amber said and Emily nodded.

"Then lets go," Sarah smiled and they opened the door.

Carefully they peeked out of the door into the hall. The crowd from before had dispersed. They crept down the hall to the elevator. Just then they heard someone say, "What bad weather."

The girls froze. It was Mr. Martin and if he was there, Coach wasn't far behind. If they saw them, they were through. It wasn't that they feared Mr. Martin, it was more the presence of the Coach, that made them panic. Amber hammered the elevator button, chanting, "Come on, come on."

Just as Mr. Martin turned the corner, the door to the elevator opened and they fell inside. Quickly they closed the door again. With a sigh of relief they went down to the lobby. "That was too close for comfort," Emily muttered.

"Imagine they had caught us," Sarah said and the girls froze, thinking of the various things Coach would make them do. They wouldn't be pleasant.

Luckily the lobby was empty and they could just walk to the front door. They each rested a hand on the door and Emily asked, "Ready?"

With a smile Sarah and Amber nodded. They closed their eyes and pushed open the door. A strong gust of wind greeted them and the sound of a raging sea concurred any other sound. The moon was almost directly above them. Following their hearing, their feet soon met the sand and a moment later they stood right in front of the ocean. With one elegant jump they were underwater and swimming off. Only now did they open their eyes. The ocean was dark and even the Great Barrier Reef didn't seem to have any shine.

Just fighting against the ocean was already an almost impossible task, but somehow they managed to get into the proximity of the ship. A carpet of oil was already creeping towards the reef. "There's not much time left. We have to hurry," Sarah said as they surfaced after they had made sure that they wouldn't be endanger of looking at the moon.

"Okay. I'll try to freeze the hole in the ship. Sarah, you separate the water and oil. Amber, you burn the oil. Be careful that the fire doesn't spread too much. Sarah, you'll have to keep an eye on that," Emily told them and the other two nodded. With that Emily submerged again making her way to the ship. Getting closer it was getting harder and harder to see, the oil turning the water black. Although she tried her best not to get stuck in the oil, it was a futile attempt.

Finally Emily reached the side of the ship. There was a medium sized cut in the ship from the rocks. Raising her hand, she froze. If she did it like that, then everything would freeze, including herself. She frowned, but then an idea came to her. Emily placed a hand on the ship's side, just next to the damage. Maybe there was a plus side to their powers vanishing. Concentrating only on the metal, Emily activated her powers. Just like she planned the a layer of ice appeared on the ship under her hand and slowly she inched across the hole. Just as she reached the end, Emily felt the last of her energy slipping away. Checking one last time that everything was sealed, Emily smiled weakly. It looked good. Hopefully this would hold until the ship could be rescued.

* * *

Meanwhile Sarah swam a bit back, so that she was in front of oil carpet that was threatening the reef. She looked around to find Amber a bit further away.

"Ready," Amber said and Sarah activated her made the water with the oil rise. In the air she separated the oil and water, sending the clean water to the reef and the oil to Amber, who also used her powers, so that a large sea of fire spread out in front of her. All the while the wind bombarded them, making their work even hard, and the storming sea made work slow. Sarah and Amber could see the carpet slowly getting smaller as they felt their energy being sucked out of them.

"Sarah!" Amber suddenly exclaimed, making the brunette turn to her friend. In front of Amber the fire had spread a lot faster than expected and was now heading towards the reef.

"Oh no," Sarah muttered and raised her already shaking arm. With as much power as she could, Sarah made a giant wave splash over the fire. She prayed that was enough and turned back to her own work, but the water dropped out of Sarah's magical grasp. Breathing hard, Sarah tried to use her magic again, but there was none left. She was exhausted. Suddenly she felt someone beside her, keeping her upright. It was Emily.

"You alright?" she asked, worried.

"Fine, just a bit tired," Sarah replied.

"We all don't look like we could go on," Amber pointed out, swimming towards them slowly. The fire had extinguished.

"It looks like we were able to get most of it. We should leave," Sarah said, looking around.

"But where to? There is no way we'll be able to make it back to shore," Amber objected.

"I think I saw an island just past the ship," Emily recalled and the others nodded.

Slowly they fought their way through the strong wind and current. Over their limits they finally pulled themselves ashore of the small island. Taking a deep breath, Sarah, Emily and Amber tried to regain at least a bit of strength. For a long time they just laid there. Luckily the full moon had just gone under and they were no longer in danger. The wind and ocean were slowly quieting down.

Finally Sarah said, "I can't believe we did it."

"I can't believe Rachel would do something like this. Next time I see her, I'll give her a piece of my mind," Amber replied.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We have to be careful. If this really is what she's capable of, then it's not a laughing matter," Emily objected, sitting up a bit.

Just then Amber stared at her and burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Emily asked.

"You," Amber choked between her laughs, "You're covered in oil. Your hair is pitch black."

"You don't look any better," Emily replied and soon her and Sarah's laughs joined Amber's.

When they had finally calmed down, Sarah asked, "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Amber replied.

"I'm not sure. It kind of reminds me of the moon pool," Sarah said, unsure and the girls were silent for a moment.

"You're right. It has a resemblance," Emily agreed and Amber nodded.

"It's not the feeling from the moon pool, but I have felt it before, but where?" Sarah muttered, confused as she looked at the few trees that decorated the small island, "What is this place?"

"We won't find out now. The sun is rising. We have to get back to the hotel before someone notices that we're missing," Emily told them, pointing to the first rays of sun that illuminated the darkness.

"We can come back here tomorrow night, well tonight," Amber added and the other two nodded. The girls slid into the water and slowly swam back to the shore.

**A/N: **The storm has stopped, but it definitely won't be the last between Rachel and the girls. How will the class trip continue? What is that mysterious island? Could answers possibly be waiting in Cairns? Please review.


	15. Class Trip Part 2

**A/N: Once again** **a Happy New Year! Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. ****I hope everyone has a good 2012. Here is chapter 15. Enjoy!**

_Previously..._ _Rachel has betrayed the girls, but still they went on the class trip to Cairns. Sarah has a weird dream, where someone is calling her. The full moon rose and a storm started. A ship got caught in the storm and spill oil, which threatened the Great Barrier Reef. Luckily the girls were able to stop it in time, but it drained them of the little energy they had. They swam to an island to rest there. The island however admitted a strange aura that resembles the moon pools. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 15: Class Trip Part 2

When Amber, Sarah and Emily finally pulled themselves ashore, the sun was already up. Laying on the beach behind a boat, they caught their breath. They were still exhausted from rescuing the Great Barrier Reef from the oil.

"Can you dry us, Amber?" Emily asked, hopefully, though she knew the answer herself already.

Amber shook her head and answered, "Sorry, but my powers are exhausted. Even if they were completely there, with the bit of power I still have, drying myself is a challenge, never mind us three."

"I guess we'll have to wait," Sarah said and relaxed, trying to catch as many rays of sun as possible.

A while later they felt the usual sensation of transforming back to normal. Slowly they got up. "I feel like I got run over by a bus," Amber muttered and the other two nodded, "I wish we could go to bed."

"Kiss that wish good bye. We're going on a boat trip over the Barrier Reef," Sarah reminded her, making Amber groan.

"Maybe we can still catch a few minutes of sleep. What time is it?" Amber asked.

Emily looked at her watch and replied, "It' shortly after… It's breakfast time." The girls stared at each other and then ran as quickly as they could back to the hotel.

Entering the dinning hall, they came face to face with Mr. Martin and an angry looking Coach. Everyone was already there and their attention was on the three girls. "Well, do you have an explanation why you were not in your room and late for breakfast?" Coach demanded in a voice that made everyone flinch.

"We… We woke up early and decided to go for a walk on the beach," Amber lied, trying to hide her fear. They could see Rachel smirk at them from her table with Alex.

"Didn't we give orders to stay in the hotel until we said it was safe?" Coach demanded.

"Yes, but the storm was over and so we thought it was better than staying in the hotel. We weren't alone," Emily replied.

"Mrs. Hansen," Mr. Martin began, but when she glared at him he quickly corrected, "Coach. I believe we can let the girls off with a warning. However, if you do something like that again, it will have consequences. Now go eat breakfast." The girls nodded and quickly fled to an empty table.

The girls ate in silence, trying to stay awake. They each had the largest cup of coffee possible in front of them. They perked up when they heard someone ask, "Did you hear about the ship that got damaged in the storm?"

"Yeah, the authorities are puzzled. The ship had a hole, but it was covered with ice when they hauled the ship out of the water. Amazingly there was almost no oil leakage, even though there should have been. Also people reported that they saw a fire out on the ocean during the time," another answered. Weary they exchanged a small smile. They had done it.

"Enjoy this little victory while it lasts," someone hissed as they passed their table. Looking up, they saw Rachel pass with Alex.

"Did you say something?" Alex asked, but Rachel shook her head.

Amber placed her hands on the table, ready to jump up and tell Rachel off, but Sarah and Emily each grabbed a hand. "Don't. We can't risk it. Not here," Sarah whispered.

"I know it's not easy to stick away, but if we lose it now, she won," Emily added and reluctantly Amber let herself lean back against her chair, "Lets get ready for today's activities."

* * *

A while later they were at the docks from where the boat would depart. The girls stood as far from either side of the dock as possible, so that they wouldn't be too close to the water. Soon they were let onto the boat. It was large with a big deck. Luckily there was also a cabin, in which there were benches to sit on. In the middle of the cabin was a big glass floor through which you could see under the boat.

"This is pretty amazing," Sarah gasped, looking around as they sat down in the cabin, of course. They tried to get a seat as far from the windows as possible. The boat started to move and the girls watched the underwater life through the glass floor.

"The rocking is making me tired," Sarah yawned.

"I'm even too tired to care that we're on a boat," Amber muttered as she closed her eyes.

"Hey, don't fall a-sleep," Emily said, but soon her eyes were closed too.

"Girls," a voice woke them. Startled they looked up to see Mr. Martin. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Everything is fine. The rocking and the ocean air are just making us tired," Amber replied as they tried to look as awake as possible.

"Why don't you come on deck? The scenery looks even nicer there," he suggested.

"That's a good idea," someone suddenly said. The girls turned around to see Rachel. They gave her a small scowl, but reluctantly they followed the two on deck. Luckily the storm from last night was nowhere to be seen and the water was flat as a pin, so that no drops of water flew on deck. Still the Sarah, Emily and Amber stayed as far away from the water as possible. While Amber and Emily enjoyed the little view they had of the water from where they stood, Sarah looked at the island every time it was visible. She just couldn't shake that strange feeling that she had about it.

Hours later the girls dropped onto their beds exhausted. The boat ride had gone by uneventfully and it was now night time. "I just want to sleep for a month," Amber muttered, her eyes closed.

"Agreed," Emily replied.

"Didn't we want to visit that island?" Sarah reminded them.

"We can still do that tomorrow," Amber protested, pulling her pillow towards her.

"I guess. I'm tired as hell," Sarah agreed and rolled up on her bed. They closed their eyes.

Suddenly an aura swept through the room, making them sit up. "It's that aura from the island," Sarah said, startled.

"Is it calling us?" Emily asked, confused.

"I think so," Sarah replied unsure.

"I guess that means no sleep tonight either," Amber groaned as they got up.

"Actually, I don't feel so tired anymore," Emily remarked.

"You're right," Sarah agreed.

"Well, I'm still tired, but I don't feel like I'll drop dead in the next minute," Amber answered as they walked towards the door.

"You think the aura did this?" Sarah questioned.

"I don't know. Is that possible?" Emily said.

Carefully they opened their door and peeked outside. Nobody was there and luckily this time they made their escape without any problems. Outside they dove into the water under the cover of the clouded, dark night. They swam through the reef and soon surfaced in front of the island. "What now? We walk around on the island until we have the enlightenment?" Amber asked.

"How about we take the tunnel that goes under the island?" Sarah suggested, pointing to a hole just below them.

"That works," Amber replied, lost for words.

"But who knows where that ends," Emily objected.

Sarah looked at her friend and then said, "Listen. I can't explain it, but I just know that whatever is calling us doesn't want to harm us. I know it sounds crazy, but please, believe me." Her friends stared at her and then nodded.

With that they submerged again. It was pitch black in the tunnel, but Sarah led them through it confidentially. A while later the girls surfaced in a sort of cave. It reminded them a bit of the moon pool with a large hole in one side of the cave. From there they could see out onto the ocean with a now cleared up star filled sky above it. The almost full moon shone through the gap. "Wow," they gasped, awestruck. "This is amazing," Sarah said, looking around.

"I could stay here all night looking out at the ocean," Amber added, mesmerized.

"It's so peaceful," Emily smiled.

"Hello Amber, Sarah, Emily," a voice suddenly said out of nowhere.

"Who's there?" Amber demanded as they looked around, their powers ready to be used.

"Over here," the voice replied, calmly and the girls turned to the opening. They could only stare. There stood a girl their age. Well, not really stood. She wasn't real. She seemed to be made of light. A light similar to moon light. Her hair was really long, almost all the way down her back. She wore a dress that would belong a few centuries back. Her eyes were very expressive. Since she was made of light, she was entirely a beautiful, pale yellow like moon light.

"Who are you?" Sarah finally managed to asked.

"I'm sorry. My name is Claire," the girl introduced herself, smiling.

"How do you know our names?" Emily questioned.

"I know a lot more than that," Claire replied, sitting down on the ledge, "I'm here to warn you. You are in grave danger."

"We already know that Rachel is dangerous. You don't need to tell us that. She nearly killed us," Amber told her.

"I'm not talking about Rachel. I'm talking about a much greater danger," Claire retorted, calmly, not getting into an argument with Amber.

"I doubt anything is more dangerous than Rachel," Amber joked, but shut up when she saw how serious Claire's eyes were.

"I'm being very serious, Amber. This danger has destroyed many mermaids before you," Claire told them, making the girls freeze at her words.

"Many… mermaids," Sarah stammered.

"Does that mean… There are more like us?" Emily questioned, curious.

The girls saw sadness came into Claire's eyes. "Not anymore," she whispered, looking over her shoulder towards the ocean as Amber, Sarah and Emily looked at her confused, "Let me tell you a story."

"A long time ago, around three hundred to be exact, there lived a girl. She lived in a small village that would later become Cairns. She loved it there and enjoyed going swimming. One day she went out in a rowboat, but a strong current pulled her away from the shore and she couldn't do anything about it. Luckily her boat stranded on an island. Not knowing what else to do, she wandered around, exploring the island. During the night time she found a cave with pool in it. When the full moon was overhead, the pool began to bubble," Claire told them.

"She turned into a mermaid," Emily concluded.

"Correct," Claire replied, curtly.

"So you're telling us about a girl, who shared the same experience as us. So what?" Amber objected.

"I wasn't done, Amber," Claire replied, firmly and continued, "The girl's life changed a lot, but she really enjoyed it. She swam and stayed in the pool sometimes for hours at a time, forgetting the normal world around her. However this fun time didn't last. It was probably a bit over a month, when a meteoroid hit her moon pool. At first nothing seemed different, but slowly she realized something wasn't right. Water tentacles started attacking her. During the new moon her powers would go out of control and they seemed to be weakening more and more."

The girls could only stare at Claire. "I know that it's happening to you too," Claire said and the girls nodded, "Do you know why?"

"Because of Rachel," Amber replied.

"No," Claire retorted, curtly.

"Then what is causing this?" Sarah questioned.

"Think. What two things are the same?" Claire inquired, a bit annoyed at how slow the girls were.

"The meteoroid," Emily muttered as it dawned on her.

"Correct. It's the cause for all this," Claire answered.

"But what can a meteoroid do?" Amber questioned.

"You would be surprised," Claire replied, grimly, "The meteoroid comes down every 150 years. It marks the beginning of the end for mermaids."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, confused.

"The meteoroid attacks the moon pool, destroying the mermaids," Clair answered.

"What do you mean it attacks the moon pool?" the girls questioned, confused.

"It's hard to explain, but I'll try. As you must have noticed that the moon pool has magic. Lets call it moon magic. The meteoroid also has some sort of magic, meteoroid or star magic perhaps. Anyway, while the moon pool is able to sustain its magic on its own with a bit of help from the moon, the meteoroid can't do that. To refill its magic, it needs the magic from something else," Clair began.

"It takes it from the moon pool," Emily muttered, horrified.

"Right. So every 150 years that it runs out of magic, the main meteoroid pretty much breaks off a piece and through magnetism that is between the two kinds of magic it lands in a moon pool. The meteoroid starts to leech the magic from the moon pool. Mermaids get their powers from the moon pool. The moon pool is no longer able to keep giving magic to the mermaids and starts taking it back, trying to sustain itself. Mermaids don't notice until it's too late that they're losing magic," Clair continued, gloomily.

"What about losing control of our powers during the new moon?" Sarah questioned.

"Simple. During a new moon, moon magic is weakest and the star magic to overpower it and thus, is able to directly effect mermaids," Clair explained.

"This is all very interesting, but why do you know all this? How do we know that you're not on the side of that "star magic"?" Amber demanded, narrowing her eyes at the light figure.

Sadness appeared in Claire's eyes as she replied, "I know all this, because… I am that girl."

Sarah, Emily and Amber stared at her, astonished. "What?" was all they whispered.

"I am that girl from 300 years ago. This was my moon pool. Look around. It resembles yours, right? Can you still feel it a bit?" Claire asked as she seemed to reminisce how her cave once looked. The girls looked around. It was true. The cave looked like their own, though the walls didn't shine. They didn't admit the glow of magic nor the feel of it. They looked like dull, normal rocks.

"What happened? Why does it feel so… so…," Sarah began and Claire ended, "Dead? Because it is. This place has no more life. No more magic. It hasn't had life in 300 years."

"What exactly happened back then? You haven't told us everything, have you?" Emily asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Sadly, you're right. When I realized that my powers were disappearing, it was too late. I had barely any power left when I tried to save my moon pool. As you can imagine, I failed," Claire answered, sadly.

"But if this took place 300 years ago, why are you still here?" Amber questioned, now almost regretting her suspicions.

"I'm not sure, but my guess is when your magic has been completely leeched from you, you die too," Claire presumed and saw the fear on the mermaids' faces, "At least physically. Spiritually and mentally you live on as a spirit. I stay here, because here I feel the most at home. Cairns has changed too much for me to go there. From here I have watched the last meteoroid 150 years ago kill another mermaid. I can't take that again, so I'm going to intervene this time."

"You're voice… I knew I recognized it. You're the voice from my dream," Sarah realized and Claire smiled, nodding, "Correct. When I sensed that you were in Cairns I had talk to you. I had tell you your fate, so I used the bit of magic that this place and I still had and called out to you."

"Then you were also in our dreams," Emily concluded.

"Yes. I tried to warn you of the new moon. Even though you realized after the first time that it had to do with the new moon, I know it's not easy to not use your powers. I would have wanted you to hide in your rooms and do nothing for that time, but I know myself that I could never do that," Claire explained and then turned to Sarah, "I would have warned you too, but back then I didn't know who you were then. I knew that the meteoroid had once again attacked, but I hadn't been able to figure out who you were until it was too late. I'm sorry that I couldn't help you."

"It's okay. It was scary, yes, but I had Amber and Emily to support me," Sarah replied, looking at her friends with a smile.

"Yes, you are very lucky that you don't have to go through this alone. Always stay together. That is one of the only things that will always be there no matter what is going on," Claire smiled as she gazed at the mermaids and they smiled as well.

"Can I ask something?" Emily inquired and Claire nodded, "How many mermaids were there? How many are there still?"

"There were maybe over 100 mermaids at one point in time. However some died of normal causes, while others were killed by the meteoroid. That decreased the number. Also through the meteoroid moon pools all around the world are being destroyed, so that it's not possible for new mermaids to be created. As for how many there still are I am not sure. There are only very few moon pools still active, so I believe the number is very small. Maybe not even a dozen, but I have no idea," Claire told them.

"But if all this is happening because of the meteoroid, what is Rachel in all this? Is she also effected? Why didn't you call her too?" Amber asked.

"Where Rachel stands in all this I don't know. I didn't have someone like her during my time. Whether or not Rachel is effected, I can't say. Every time I reach out to her something shrouds her. Not to mention she has an evil aura around her," Claire answered.

"She is evil, so the aura doesn't surprise me," Amber muttered.

"Be careful of her, but I tell you now that she is not your main enemy," Claire reminded them.

Emily nodded and looked out at the ocean, saying, "The sun is going to rise soon. You should get going back before you are caught."

"You're right," Sarah agreed.

"Before you go, I have something for you," Claire told them and in her open palm 3 stones appeared, "Take these. If you are in trouble, they might help." The girls each took one and examined them. They were small, blue and oval shaped. They reminded them of the wall of a moon pool.

"Thank you. Thank you for everything, Claire," the girls said as they looked at her.

"Take care," Claire replied and waved as the mermaids submerged again. Claire looked out at the ocean, the sun soon rising and whispered, "I have put great hopes in you. Please, please be alright."

**A/N:** Claire has answered many questions, but at the same time has uncovered even more questions. If Rachel isn't their real enemy, who is? And where does Rachel stand in all this? Please review.


	16. Strange

**A/N: Wow, chapter 16. It's been a long time since I started this story, but I'm glad so many people stuck around to find out how it ends. There will be two more chapters, if everything goes according to plan. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Here is chapter 16. Enjoy!**

**TheHoAProtagonist With HoA you mean House of Anubis right? I have heard of it and I have seen a few episodes by chance, but none of the names came from that. Pretty weird though that I picked those names by chance and they're the same as the ones from HoA. Maybe I should watch the beginning of HoA...  
**

_Previously... The girls went to the strange island and found the spirit of a previous mermaid, Claire. Claire told the girls the truth of the meteoroid. That the meteoroid is slowly killing their moon pool and them. Claire explained many things to them and as a parting gift they each got a small blue stone. Now on to the chapter.  
_

Chapter 16: Strange

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Amber asked, looking out at Mako, "I was the last person there. It hasn't improved since then and I can only imagine what it looks like now, but I'm sure it won't be pretty."

Sarah seemed to consider Amber's words, but Emily shook her head and answered, "We need to know. We need to know how much time we have left."

"But what if it attacks us?" Sarah questioned. They stood on the beach, looking at Mako, brooding over what to do.

"I don't think it will. Remember, if it had wanted to kill us, it could have easily killed Amber when she was there shortly after the new moon alone. It didn't, so I think it wants a slow demise," Emily retorted.

"Not sure if that's good, but I guess that's true. I peek won't harm, I suppose," Sarah said.

"Fine, but only a peek. Not more," Amber gave in, still a bit reluctantly, but still dove in with her friends into the water.

It had been a week since the class trip had ended. Things were back to normal, if you didn't count the fact that meteoroid was out to kill Sarah, Amber and Emily and that Rachel was still after them. Though things had been quiet since the class trip, the girls were always on guard, jumping at the tiniest of hints of danger.

A while later the girls surfaced at the moon pool and gasped. The cave walls barely shown now, only a glimmer of how they once had and the place just seemed dark. The magical aura that they had grown so accustomed to was no longer there or just barely detectable. "This is horrible," Sarah whispered, tears in her eyes.

"No wonder, we have hardly any energy left ourselves. The moon pool is barely able to live, even with our magic," Emily muttered.

Amber was shocked silent, being the only one that was able to truly understand how quickly the meteoroid had leeched the moon pool's power. "How did we never notice?" Amber finally asked, softly, "I mean, we're attached to this place and yet, we didn't realize until Claire told us."

The other two shrugged, just as guilty. "We have to find a way to make this right again," Sarah muttered.

"We will," Emily assured her, "Come on. We've been here long enough." They nodded and together they submerged again.

A while later they met Jordan, Ryan and Daniel at Lewis' old beach house. It was one of the safest places to talk about anything, especially if it was mermaid related. After they greeted each other with kisses and hugs, they got down to business. The girls had told the guys about their meeting with Claire during the class trip and they had been horrified of the new developments. The guys could tell that something wasn't right with the girls. "What's up?" Daniel asked as he pulled Emily closer to him.

"We went to see the moon pool today," Sarah began, uneasily.

"It was in horrible condition. It looked almost dead," Emily continued, sadly.

"How much time do you think you have before it dies?" Ryan questioned, carefully, not wanting them to worry even more.

"We have no idea, but it can't be much longer," Amber answered, the discomfort clear in her voice.

"But you will die, if this keeps up. I won't let that happen," Jordan protested. The girls flinched at the obvious statement that Jordan made. They had been trying to forget that part as much as possible. Ryan and Daniel shook their heads at Jordan's blunt comment, amazed that he could say something like that without realizing that it would hurt them.

Amber stared at Jordan and when she finally found her voice, demanded, "Don't you dare do something as stupid as you did last time. Jessica nearly killed you and it was a big hassle." Jordan gave her a sheepish look as he remembered how he had tried to confront Jessica, but had been captured and used as bait instead.

"We'll think of something," Emily assured them, but their boyfriends still looked at them, worried.

"Right now, we can't do anything really. We have no idea what we're dealing with. If we go unprepared, we'll get beaten easily," Sarah added.

"Don't worry about us. We will find a way to defeat it and then everything will be fine again," Amber told them. The guys still didn't believe them, but what else could they do, but to believe in their girlfriends? They sat there for a while, just enjoying each others' company.

* * *

The next day the girls were sitting on the school's campus, enjoying their lunch in the nice weather. "Hey, have you ever wondered, if Rachel knows about all this?" Sarah asked, thoughtfully, her head bent back looking at the blue sky.

"All this? You mean the meteoroid and if she's effected?" Emily replied, "Hard to say. She seems fine. Remember, she was easily able to defeat those tentacles."

"Don't forget that some of those must have been made by herself to trick us. I say she's unaffected and ignorant. Not to mention the meteoroid must be thrilled that it has an ally. Plus it's one that doesn't care what could happen to others as long as she gets us. Don't forget Claire mentioned an evil aura that's around her," Amber objected.

"But still. Rachel is attached to the same moon pool as us, so technically she should be just as effected as us," Sarah protested.

"I guess the only way we would ever find out, is if we ask her, but I doubt that will ever happen," Emily said.

Just then Mr. Martin came up to them and told them, "Ah, Emily, Sarah, Amber, just the girls I've been looking for. I've been looking everywhere for Rachel, but I can't seem to find her anywhere. I have to talk to her about the science club. Since I'm sure you'll see her soon, will you tell her to come to me."

"Sure, no problem," Emily replied, though it was exactly the opposite. It was a problem. Obviously they had avoided her as much as possible, but others seemed to not have noticed. With that Mr. Martin left.

"So what now? We go look for her?" Amber asked, though she knew the answer.

"We don't have a choice. We have to keep up the facade of being friends, even though it's far from true. We can hardly explain why we had a falling out," Sarah answered as she got up, "Besides it can't be that bad. We'll just find her, tell her what Mr. Martin wants and then leave again. There is no way she'll attack us in a crowded place like school." The blondes followed Sarah's suite and they set off, searching for her.

After having searched for nearly ten minutes without success, Amber muttered, "Where the hell is she? We checked everywhere and she's no where to be found."

"The lunch break is nearly over. If we don't find her soon, we have to go back without her," Emily said, checking her watch.

"There is one place we didn't check," Sarah replied, broodingly, "What about the swimming pool?"

"You really think she would be at the one place, where she's in danger of being discovered?" Emily asked.

"No, I think she's in the one place where no one dares to go, if they value their life," Sarah pointed out and the other two shuddered, knowing what she meant. She meant Coach.

"I guess it's a good a place as any to look," Amber agreed and they left.

Carefully they opened the door to the gym and peeked inside. The coast seemed clear and they tiptoed inside. Unfortunately the only way to get to the pool, was past the office, in which Coach was. Scooting along the wall, they ducked down and crawled under the window of the office.

They had just passed the window and were about to give a sigh of relief, when Coach yelled, "What are you doing!" The girls flinched, scared. Had they been caught? "If you're on the phone with me, don't do anything else," Coach demanded, angrily as he stormed about the office.

The girls exchanged looks and quietly slipped outside through the door to the pool. Only then did they allow themselves to breath. "I thought for sure that we were caught," Sarah whispered and the other two nodded as they slowly walked to the pool.

They froze when they heard someone say, "I know they were at the moon pool. At least I didn't attack them." It was Rachel. "Leave them alone. You can do whatever you want with me. Just leave them alone already," Rachel demanded, firmly. The girls peeked around the corner and looked at her confused. What was she talking about and to who? Nobody was there. At least not from what they could see. The girls exchanged looks, caught completely off guard by this scene.

Finally Amber walked around the corner and said, "Hey Rachel. Maybe you shouldn't hide so much, then people can actually find you." With a sigh Emily and Sarah came forth.

"Amber, Emily, Sarah," Rachel whispered in a soft voice, eying them, "What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Martin is looking for you. He wants to talk to you about the science club," Emily told her.

"Thanks, I'll go right now," Rachel replied and walked past them, quickly.

The girls looked at each other. "She was nice," Sarah said, stunned.

"She didn't threaten nor attack us," Emily added.

"She's insane. She talked to herself," Amber pointed out.

"True, but what was she talking about?" Emily asked.

"She knew we were at Mako, but didn't attack us and the rest… I have no idea," Sarah replied.

Just then the bell rang for class. "I guess, we should go to class. What luck that Coach didn't see us," Emily said.

"Yeah, imagine what she would do to us," Amber agreed.

"I can think of a few things, but I'm open for suggestions," someone suddenly added, making them turn around, startled. Behind them was Coach. "I'm pretty sure you are aware of the fact that students are not allowed near the pool, without a teacher. Not to mention that I thought you didn't swim," Coach told them, firmly while giving them a look, especially Amber.

"We were just looking for a quiet place to talk," Emily replied, though not very sure of herself.

"And a classroom wouldn't suffice? Well, I think I can think of a few things for you to do during your next gym class," Coach smiled, evilly and the girls gulped, "Now go." Quickly the girls fled the pool area.

During their dead sprint, Amber asked, "Are we sure she isn't our real enemy? Maybe she's the meteoroid." The girls burst out laughing.

Luckily for them they didn't have gym today, so they were spared for now and Coach had a day to cool off. The rest of school passed uneventfully and soon the girls were on their way home, walking on the beach. "Coach really scared me, when she suddenly appeared behind us," Emily said and the others nodded.

"I'm sure she'll think of something very painful for us," Amber replied, already wincing from the soon to be expected pain.

"I wonder what Coach will think up for us," Sarah muttered.

"I can assure you it won't be as painful as this," someone suddenly said and a strong gust of wind knocked them off their feet. Surprised they turned around to see Rachel. "Seems like you are back to normal," Amber muttered as they got up.

"Glad that I can live up to your expectations," Rachel smirked.

"Rachel, we don't want to fight you," Sarah replied.

"Very well. Then how about I fight and you just take a beating?" Rachel suggested and send a water tentacle at them. Barely the girls were able to dodge by jumping apart. The tentacle went after Sarah, who threw up a shield of water. The tentacle hit the shield and it immediately shattered under the tentacle's force, knocking Sarah down.

"Sarah!" Emily and Amber exclaimed, running to their friend's side and helping her up, "You alright?" Sarah nodded and looked at Rachel.

"Lets try it together," Sarah said and the blondes nodded. They raised their hands and their own tentacle rose from the ocean. They faced off for a moment, each of them waiting for the other to strike first. Then at the exact same time the tentacles lunged forward, meeting in the middle. The rally lasted only a few seconds before Rachel's destroyed the other tentacle and it hit the girls full force. They flew back into the sand, landing hard.

Rachel stood there, waiting for them to get up, but they didn't. Something stirred inside her and she blinked several times. Rachel stared at the three bodies in the sand in front of us. "No, no. What have I done?" she muttered, horrified.

Rachel ran to the bodies. "Sarah, Emily, Amber, can you hear me?" she asked, shaking them, but they gave no reply.

Just then she spotted a phone not far from the three, which must have fallen out of one of their pockets. Quickly Rachel grabbed it and redialed the last number. "Hello," a boy's voice answered the phone.

"Jordan? Is that you, Jordan?" Rachel asked, hastily.

"Rachel? Why do you have Amber's phone? What did you do?" Jordan demanded to know, angrily.

"Listen, I don't have much time. We're at the beach near the beach house. Amber, Sarah and Emily are unconscious. Help them," Rachel quickly told him.

"What are you talking about? What ha…," Jordan began, but Rachel ended the call.

She got out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled something on it. Then she placed it next to Amber and used the phone as weight. Slowly she got up and looked at them one last time, saying, "I'm sorry." Then she turned to look at Mako before she dove into the water and disappeared.

A while later Jordan and the other guys, who Jordan had contacted, showed up. "There!" Ryan exclaimed, seeing the three lifeless bodies, "Sarah!"

They sprinted to their girlfriends and kneeled down beside them. "Amber, are you alright?" Jordan asked, shaking her.

Daniel carefully placed Emily's hand back next to her, which he had just used to check her pulse, and replied with a sigh of relief, "They're fine. Just unconscious. They should wake up soon, but we should get them inside. The beach house isn't far right?" Ryan nodded and they each picked up their respective girlfriend, carrying them to Lewis' beach house.

A while later the girls opened their eyes. "What happened?" Sarah muttered, slowly getting up.

"That's what we'd like to know," Ryan said, making the girls turn to them.

"Rachel attacked us, while we were on our way home. Our tentacles clashed and then…nothing. I think we lost," Emily told them and then asked, confused, "What are you doing here?"

"Not sure ourselves. I got a call from Rachel from your phone, saying you were unconscious," Jordan explained.

"A call from my phone?" Amber repeated and felt for it, "Where is my phone? She'd better not have taken it, otherwise I'll go and face her, superior strength or not."

"I doubt she took it," Sarah replied.

"Maybe it's still at the beach. I'll go check," Jordan replied and left. The other guys observed the girls. They looked pretty weak. Whether this was just because of the attack, they couldn't say.

A while later Jordan came back, the cell phone in hand. "Here. It was right where you were before," he told them and handed Amber her phone, "But I also found this."

Jordan pulled out the folded piece of paper and gave it to Emily.

"What's it say?" Sarah asked as they all leaned over to look at the paper as Emily unfolded it.

"What is this?" they muttered, all staring at the page.

**A/N: **What is on the paper? What is up with Rachel? The final showdown is up next. I'm sorry that the chapter is so short, but I hope you still enjoyed it. Please review.


	17. Goodbye

**A/N: I'll tell you right no****w that not everything went according to plan and now there will be 2 more chapters after this one. I have also given thought to what I'll write after I'm done with this story. I have thought of three options. Either I write another sequel to this or I write a different H2O story or I go into a completely different direction. I don't know yet, but if you want I can show you the summary of the different H2O story. Anyway thanks for reading and reviewing. Here is chapter 17. Enjoy**!

_Previously... After finding out the truth from Claire, the girls visit their moon pool, only to find it in devastation condition. The girls start to wonder where Rachel stands in all this and notice she's acting even stranger than usual. After Rachel attacks them, knocking them unconscious, she calls Jordan and leaves a note, before leaving herself. The guys bring the girls to the beach house, where they have just opened the note. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 17: Goodbye

"What is this?" they muttered, all staring at the page. On the page in a shaking handwriting was written:

1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1

2/6 + 2/6 + 2/6 = 6/6 /-1/6

1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6 = 1/2, not 5/6

"Math? What is this supposed to mean?" Amber asked, looking at the paper, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Then why would she even bother? There are much better jokes," Daniel objected.

"But what else could it be?" Sarah questioned.

"I don't think it's a joke," Jordan intervened.

"Why not?" Emily inquired, looking up for the first time from the note.

"Back when she called me, she said, she didn't have much time. She sounded very serious, almost a bit scared or so," Jordan recalled.

"Not much time? What is that supposed to mean?" Ryan muttered, thoughtfully.

"What if…," Emily began, slowly, "What if these numbers stand for us?"

"You mean that each one-thirds stands for us? That makes sense," Sarah agreed.

"I know I'm not the greatest in math, but what about the last line then?" Amber asked.

"Amber has a point. The last line makes no sense," Daniel concurred.

"Hm, you're right. But what could it be then?" Emily muttered.

"I don't think you were that wrong about the numbers. You three equal a whole," Ryan objected.

"But then what about Rachel? Her powers are the same as…," Sarah began, but got quieter and quieter as it dawned on her, "That's it! Even though Rachel is one person, her powers are the same as ours. She's the one!"

"I think you're right," Jordan agreed as the others also nodded.

"I agree, but what about the last two lines. We take something away and suddenly they're not the same," Amber pointed out.

"1/6 is taken away…," Emily muttered, "Oh my god." Everyone turned to her. She looked shocked and her face looked at least a shade paler.

"What is it?" Ryan asked.

"This… this is an explanation," Emily whispered, so quiet that the others had to strain to hear her.

"An explanation? For what?" Jordan inquired.

"Why we've lost so much of our powers, while Rachel still has so much," Emily explained as the others stared at her, making her go on, " Like we already established, we're the one thirds and Rachel is the one. The one sixth can be replaced by any other number, but this one makes sense I guess. Anyway, when we lose that much magic, it's half of our magic, while it's only a very small portion of Rachel's. Do you understand?" The others nodded, solemnly, just as shocked as Emily.

"But why? Why would she want to tell us this? She just tried to kill us," Sarah asked, confused, "More importantly, why couldn't she tell us this, instead of writing it on a piece of paper?"

"I guess there's only one way to find out. We ask her tomorrow," Amber answered, firmly and the others nodded.

"I guess it's about time to get going home," Sarah said as they all got up. The girls seemed to sway for a moment and the guys were prepared to grab them, in case they fell over. Amber took a shaky step and started to sway to one side. Jordan grasped her arm to keep her from falling over.

Upright again Amber jerked her arm free, snapping, "I'm fine, Jordan. I don't need help."

"Really? You look like you're ready to keel over any minute," he retorted, "But fine. If you don't need my help, I'm leaving." With that Jordan stormed out the door.

The others stared after him, before Ryan said, "We should follow him. Don't worry. I'm sure he didn't mean it." After quick parting kisses to their respective girlfriends, Ryan and Daniel left.

Sarah and Emily looked at Amber worried. "Are you alright?" Sarah asked.

"I'm fine," Amber muttered and slowly walked out of the house. Emily and Sarah found Amber staring out at the ocean just in front of the beach house.

"I'll apologize to him tomorrow. I guess all this is just too much," Amber whispered, not turning around.

"I agree. It's a lot to take in," Sarah told her as they came up to her.

"But we must never forget that we are not alone. Claire is always by our side, even if we can't see her," Emily said and the others nodded, each taking Claire's stones out of their pockets. They still shone a beautiful blue.

"Actually, I had an idea," Sarah said and pulled out three cords of leather string. A while later the three stones were around their wrists as bracelets.

"Wow, this is really nice," Emily smiled, "Thanks, Sarah."

"Welcome. I thought it would be nice to not just carry them in our pockets," the brunette explained and even Amber smiled a thanks. With that they went home.

The next day the girls waited for Rachel to appear to homeroom, but she never showed. "This is weird. Rachel never misses school," Emily said, thoughtfully.

"Maybe she's avoiding us, cause she knows we'll ask about the paper," Amber suggested.

"But that makes no sense. If she didn't want us to ask about it, then she would have never even given it to us in the first place," Sarah objected and the other two had to agree with that.

When Rachel didn't shown herself the entire school day, Emily, Sarah and Amber knew something was up. "Something isn't right," Emily said, worried as they sat on a bench not far from the school just after school.

"You mean besides our apparent lack of energy?" Amber joked, wirily. The entire day had been a struggle just to stay awake and upright.

"Not funny," Emily muttered.

"You seem to be fine, if you still have the energy to disagree," Sarah smiled, "But where did Rachel go?"

"That is the million dollar question," Emily replied.

Just then they saw Alex walk past them. "Why don't we ask Alex?" Sarah suggested and the others nodded. With a great amount of effort they got up and hurried after him. "Alex, have you seen Rachel? We've been looking for her everywhere," Sarah asked, coming up behind him and making him turn around.

Alex looked at them with a confused look and then replied, "You too? I haven't seen Rachel since last night. I'm really starting to worry." The girls exchanged a worried look. If Alex didn't know where Rachel was, who did?"Are you guys alright? You look a bit pale," Alex asked, worried.

"It's nothing," Amber retorted, making it clear the topic was meant to be dropped and Alex complied.

"I need to ask a favor of you. I know this might be selfish, but please find Rachel. I know there's something special between you. Something that I can't understand or I'm not supposed to know, because she never told me. You are connected to her in a special way. Whatever Rachel did to you, please put it aside and find her. I have a really bad feeling. Something is wrong," Alex told them. The girls looked at each other.

Finally Emily spoke, "You really are a great friend, Alex. Don't worry. We'll find her and if she needs it, we'll save her."

This made a small smile appear on Alex's face and he replied, "Thank you. I knew from the first time I met you, that you were special. Now I see that you are also some of the best friends a person can ask for. I wish you the best of luck." With that he left, leaving a baffled group of girls.

"You think he might be psychic?" Amber joked, getting an annoyed look from her friends, "This is the second time he's mentioned us being different. Maybe he knows we're mermaids. Maybe Rachel told him."

"Doubt it. Then he would have flat out told us and not made such a show of it," Emily objected and then her eyes softened, "No, he seems really sincere."

"I agree. He's really worried," Sarah agreed.

"Speaking of worried, the new moon is coming up in two days. We have to be prepared," Emily reminded them and the others nodded.

Then it hit them like lightning. "It can't be..," Amber muttered.

"You think she realized it?" Sarah asked.

Finally Emily spoke out what everyone thought, "What if Rachel figured out that the meteoroid is responsible for all this? I mean, even if she's evil she wouldn't want to lose her power. What if she went to confront it."

They stared at each other horrified. "She's in trouble," Sarah muttered, worried, "We have to help her."

"But how? We barely have any energy left," Emily pointed out.

"That's true," Sarah had to agree, a little disappointed.

"Seriously? We only just gave our word to Alex that we would do anything to save Rachel and now the thing holding us back is our lack of energy?" Amber demanded, annoyed. The strong words from their friend made Sarah and Emily look up.

"You right. We have to save Rachel, energy or not," Sarah replied, firmly.

"You realize what it means, if we go?" Emily asked, carefully, reminding them of Claire's fate, but the others gave a nod, though their expression revealed sadness. Amber's gaze fell on a person, who was sitting on a bench not far away, and her stomach twisted.

"Excuse me for a moment," Amber whispered and walked over to Jordan, who sat with his back to her. Sarah and Emily looked after their friend worried.

"Jordan," she breathed, making him turn around.

"What is it?" he asked with a slight tone of disdain.

"I'm sorry. For yesterday and in general. All of this is not easy on me, even if I pretend that it doesn't faze me. I know you're only trying to help me and I appreciate it," Amber told him and then pulled him in for one last longing kiss. "I love you," she said and tried to walk back to her friends, but Jordan grabbed her hand, spinning her back around to face him.

"Is everything alright, Amber?" he asked worried.

"Everything is fine. Bye," Amber lied with a convincing smile. With that hurried back to her friends, leaving a confused Jordan.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell him what's about to happen?" Sarah asked.

"How? I can barely grasp it myself. How can I just tell him that?" Amber answered, "No, I think this way is better. It's less sad for him." She didn't sound convinced about it herself, but her friends didn't say anything.

"I guess the best thing now is that we split up for a bit and then meet at the beach house in a hour," Emily suggested, trying to put on a brave face, but failed, and Amber and Sarah nodded in agreement, both also clearly sad. After a short hug, they split up, each going their own way of good bye.

Emily headed for the college first, but then remembered that Daniel was visiting relatives in another city today of all the days. She took out her cell phone and dialed his number. "Pick up already. Pick up, please, Dan-…," Emily pleaded as the phone rang, but then a click came, "Hey Daniel. It's me-…"

She stopped when she heard, "Hey, you reached Daniel. I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

The beep that followed broke Emily's heart. After a deep breath to keep herself from crying, Emily said, "Hey Daniel. It's me, Emily. I just wanted to talk, but I guess your relatives are keeping you busy. I hope you have fun. I love you. Bye." Unwillingly her voice had gotten quieter and softer with every sentence and in the end it was barely audible. She couldn't tell him this on the phone and definitely not through voice box. When something wet ran down her face she realized that she was crying.

Emily just stood there for a while just crying, but then wiped her tears away and headed home. Arriving at home she found her parents in the living room. They looked at her worried, when they saw her red eyes. Luckily Emily had cooled her face a bit with her magic, so that she didn't look too horrible. Still Emma jumped up and asked concerned, "Are you alright, Emily? Why are you crying?"

"I wasn't crying. Something got in my eye," Emily lied, hating herself already.

"In both eyes?" Ash inquired coming up to the two women in his life. "Sand. It happens," Emily answered, giving a weak smile, and then continued softly, "This is why I love you. You care about me so much. You're the best parents a girl could ask for." With that she pulled them into a hug.

Emma and Ash exchanged a look. "Is everything really okay?" Emma questioned again after the embrace had ended.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I have to go meet Amber and Sarah now. Bye," Emily replied and walked out of the house.

"I'm so sorry," Emily thought as she turned around outside to look at the house one last time and then walked off, tears ready to start coming again.

* * *

Meanwhile Amber had taken the route along the beach to her home. Inside her two parts were fighting. One wanted to run back to Jordan and tell him everything. Tell him of what will happen. The other wanted to just go home and not show the overemotional side of her, that she went to great lengths to cover up. In the end her iron hard core won and she kept walking, even though every step made her heart feel like it weighed a ton.

As she reached her house, she saw her mom and dad kissing on the front porch, a taxi waiting at the curb. Clearly her dad was about to leave on one of his many business trips. Amber's pace quickened and soon she stood next to them. "Do you have to do that in public?" Amber asked, a bit embarrassed.

"I don't think you would be able to stop us, even if you tried," Rikki answered, cheekily with a rebellious smile and gave Zane one more kiss. Normally Amber would have come up with a witty remark or actually tried to break them apart, but today she couldn't. She couldn't leave them in a fight.

Her parents looked at her concerned. "What? No reply?" Zane questioned, surprised, "That's very unlike you."

"Maybe I'm maturing," Amber suggested with a shrug.

"You're our daughter. No way that's happening any time soon," Rikki smirked.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Amber smiled, looking at them, "You know that I don't take you for granted, right? And that I wouldn't want any other parents than you?" Rikki and Zane hugged their daughter.

"Of course we know," Rikki whispered into Amber's ear, "We love you so much."

"And I love you," Amber replied and broke the hug, "Even if are embarrassing at times. I have to go meet Sarah and Emily now. Bye." With that Amber walked off again. Amber forced herself to not look back. She could still feel her parents' eyes on her back. Placing a her fist over her heart, she whispered, "Thank you for everything. I'm sorry." She was glad that they hadn't really noticed how off she really was. Slowly she made her way to the arranged meeting place.

At the same time Rikki and Zane exchanged a look. "She isn't okay, is she?" Zane asked, looking after his daughter. "She'll tell us when the time is right. If we butt in she'll close up on us. She's strong like us. She'll be able to handle herself just fine," Rikki assured him, squeezed his hand and gave him one final kiss before he left.

* * *

Meanwhile Sarah had turned around and gone into the school. She had hoped to find Ryan in the science room along with the rest of the science club, but her hopes were shattered when she saw the empty room.

Walking back outside, Sarah pulled out her phone and dialed his number. "This is Ryan," he answered the phone after a few moments of ringing.

"Hey, it's me," Sarah said, relieved that he had picked up, "Where are you? I was looking for you in the science room, but it's empty."

"I'm at the museum of science. Remember that I told you that we were invited to see a special exhibition?" Ryan replied, but then heard the tone of sadness in her voice, "Why? Do you need something?"

Sarah debated for a moment, if she should tell him. Could she? "Sarah? You still there?" Ryan asked, when no reply came.

"Yeah, still here. No, I don't need anything. I… I just wanted to talk to you," Sarah lied.

"Listen, I'm really sorry, but I'm not even supposed to be on the phone now. Mr. Martin is already looking at me," Ryan told her in a more hushed voice, "Lets talk later."

"No, that's alright. Go enjoy yourself," Sarah answered, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Are you sure?" Ryan questioned, having a bad feeling.

"Positive. I love you. Bye," Sarah replied, quickly and hung up.

If Ryan thought that she was being weird, she didn't care. She wouldn't have been able to take one more minute of that phone call. Taking deep breaths Sarah calmed herself. Then she slowly walked towards her house.

Upon entering she found Lewis and Cleo in the kitchen. "Hey," Sarah said, sitting down on a chair. Cleo and Lewis were sitting at the table, surfing the web on a laptop. "Can I ask you something?" she asked, carefully.

"You can ask us anything," Lewis replied as they looked up from the laptop.

Sarah looked from her mother to Lewis and then spoke out the question that had been on her mind for a while now, "What would you do, if I suddenly disappeared?"

If she hadn't already had their attention, she would have now. Cleo and Lewis stared at her alarmed and then came up to her. "What are you talking about?" Lewis questioned.

"Is this because you've been so weak lately? You look pretty pale right now actually," Cleo inquired, sitting down beside her.

"No, no. I'm fine," Sarah objected, shaking her hands in protest out in front of her, "It's just a question."

"We would do anything humanly possible to find you, sweetie," Cleo finally replied, putting an arm around her daughter.

"Are you sure there's no truth to the question?" Lewis asked, taking a seat on the other side of Sarah. Hesitantly Sarah nodded her head. She couldn't do it.

"You know what? Forget I ever asked such a silly question," Sarah told them and she got up, "I have to go meet Amber and Emily now." She gave her mother a peck on the cheek and Lewis a hug before heading for the door.

"Sarah," Cleo called after her, making her turn around, "You know you can tell us anything, right?"

Sarah stared at them for a moment and then smiled, "I know. It's one of the many reasons why I love you. Good bye." With that she left. Outside Sarah stopped one last time to look at the house. With tears in her eyes Sarah activated her powers and send a wave of water into the air. The sunlight caught the drops of water, creating a rainbow, which stretched over the horizon. This was her goodbye present and she didn't know how, but she knew Cleo and Lewis had seen it. "Thanks for everything. I'm sorry," she whispered.

A while later Lewis' beach house came into view. Amber and Emily were already there. "How did it go?" Sarah asked her friends, though none had a happy face.

"I didn't tell my parents either," Amber informed them, trying to stay as neutral as possible.

"I didn't tell mine either. And I couldn't reach Daniel," Emily told them, looking down at the phone in her lap, as her friends put a comforting arm around her, "I left him a message, but I could hardly tell him this on the phone."

"I know how you feel. I may have reached Ryan, but I could tell him the truth either, nor do my parents know," Sarah replied, "I hope they still understood why I'm doing this and that I love them very much."

"I'm sure they did," Emily whispered, "I'm sure all our parents did."

Amber looked at her friends, walked towards the ocean and said, "Well, I guess it's time to stop pitying ourselves and to get this over with once and for all." Sarah and Emily looked up at their friend.

"You're right. Lets do this," Sarah agreed, following her friend.

"You realize this time we're fighting for no one but ourselves? No one will be effected by this but us," Emily asked as she joined them.

"It doesn't matter whether we fight for humanity or just ourselves. We'll still give it all we've got," Sarah retorted, firmly, "You ready?" She stuck out her hand and Emily and Amber both added one hand on top of hers.

"Lets do this," Amber smiled.

"Whatever awaits us out there, we'll beat it," Emily added and with that they jumped into the water, heading for the place of their final showdown, Mako Island.

**A/N: **After their goodbyes have been said, the girls swim for Mako. Can they save Rachel? Do they have the energy to defeat the meteoroid? Or could an unexpected twist be the end for them? The final showdown is definitely next. Sorry, I know I said this would have been the final showdown chapter, but when I got the idea for the goodbye scenes, I had to split the chapter in two. I'll try to update soon. Please review.


	18. Sacrifice

**A/N: Okay, this time the final showdown is there. I'm happy that so many want to know how it ends. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I hope it measures up to your expectations. Here is chapter 18. Enjoy!**

_Previously... The girls solved a puzzle from Rachel, which brings even more mysteries. Determined to find out the truth, they set out to find her, but she is nowhere to be found. Fearing the worst, the girls say goodbye to their family and loved ones and prepare to face whatever has been terrorizing them, in hopes of finding Rachel. Now on to the chapter._

Chapter 18: Sacrifice

The closer they got the more the sun started to set, making sky above the water turn into an array of colors. Had this not been such a serious time, they would have smiled, possibly even stopped to enjoy the scene. Instead they swam on, each girl following their own thoughts and when they reached Mako the sun had set.

Surfacing in the moon pool, they looked around. It was completely empty. Slowly they pulled each other out of the water and after they had dried, they got up. "Rachel? Are you here?" Sarah called out, but her own echo was her only reply.

"She's not here," Emily said, her eyes scanning every inch of the cave for a clue to the missing mermaid's whereabouts.

"Damn it. It must have already gotten to her," Amber curse, "Where are you? Come out you coward!"

Suddenly laughter filled the cave, making the girls turn to look for the source. "You mean you still haven't realized it yet?" someone asked and stepped out of the entrance to the moon pool. It was Rachel.

The girls gave a sigh of relief. "You're alright, Rachel. You had us worried," Emily told her, walking up to her.

"You could have just said something, if you were only spending a bit of time here," Amber reprimanded her, following Emily along with Sarah.

Abruptly a broad grin spread across Rachel's face. The girls stopped in their tracks. Something wasn't right. That grin wasn't nice. It was almost hostile. "You don't know anything, do you?" Rachel asked with a smirk and made a quick movement, creating wind to knock the girls back onto their backs. Astonished they stared at Rachel as they slowly pushed themselves up. That hadn't been Rachel's voice. Though it was a woman's, it was dark and intimidating.

"Who are you and what have you done to Rachel?" Amber demanded, when her voice finally returned.

Yet another cackle echoed through the moon pool. "And here I thought you actually knew something," Rachel laughed, "Obviously you don't, if you seek me out so shortly before a new moon."

"You… you are the meteoroid, aren't you?" Emily stammered as they slowly got up.

"My, you really are the smart one out of you," Rachel smirked, "You're right. I am the meteoroid and your friend here has been kind enough to help me out for a bit."

"What did you do to her?" Sarah repeated, firmly.

"I have allowed myself to impose on her body for a bit," Rachel explained.

"Impose her body? What do you mean? Why are you even doing this? We never did anything to you," Emily inquired.

"Didn't you? I guess that dumb spirit from Cairns didn't tell you that bit, did she? Or is it possible that she doesn't even know herself?" Rachel smiled.

"Know what?" Amber demanded annoyed, fed up with the riddles.

"That I was once a mermaid too," Rachel revealed.

Silence fell in the cave as the mermaids stared at each other. "Surprised?" Rachel asked, sitting down on a rock nonchalant, "I don't blame you."

"You-You're lying," Emily stammered, not believing that such a thing could possibly be like them, "How would that be possible?"

"Oh, you would be surprised, if I told you," Rachel replied, "Actually I think I will tell you. You'll be dead soon anyway, so it won't matter. Relax, take a seat. Enjoy the story while it lasts."

Not trusting Rachel, or the meteoroid that was inhabiting her, they just stood there staring at her. "Well, aren't you tense," Rachel observed, but then continued, "It was a long, long time ago, before a lot of the stuff that you humans wrote down. Back then there were two kinds of mermaids. To make it simpler I'll call them moon mermaids and star mermaids. Moon mermaids were mermaids like you. Bound to the whim of an orbiting object. During the full moon they were strong and weak during the new moon, though in my opinion weak either way. There were many of those. Then there were the star mermaids. Like stars they shone on their own, meaning their magic level was always the same. Very powerful. There were few of them and we were the elite. We are superior to the moon mermaids in every way and thus they served us."

"You oppressed them? That's horrible. How could you do that?" Sarah demanded, appalled.

"They were unworthy to be mermaids. They were humans that became mermaids by chance. Accidentally walking into one of your moon pools. If they had at least been strong, it might have been different, but they were just weak. We, star mermaids, are the real mermaids. No half being, real mermaids," Rachel retorted, firmly.

"Real mermaids. No way," Emily muttered, astonished.

"You should consider yourselves luck. You're practically standing in the presence of royalty," Rachel smiled and wiggled toes, "Though I must say having legs is pretty nice."

"And what happened that you almighty being is in a meteoroid?" Amber inquired, teasing.

A frown appeared on Rachel's face. "Those ungrateful moon mermaids revolted. During a full moon they rioted. No matter how strong we were, a clear numbers advantage can't be underestimated. We were able to kill a lot of them, but they still beat us. Just as we were killed, a meteoroid passed the Earth and for some reason all the star mermaids' spirits got stuck to it," Rachel told them, "Since then we have been there."

"But what does this have to do with Rachel? With us?" Emily asked, confused, "We have nothing to do with that."

"Don't you? As it turns out the meteoroid passes Earth every 150 years. A part breaks off of it along with a spirit from us and we fall towards Earth. Star and moon magic are opposite and as I hope you know, opposites attract. The meteoroids crash into moon pools and that's where our revenge starts. We leech the power of the moon pool, making you moon mermaids lose your powers. By the time you notice it's too late. When the moon pool is sucked dry, the magic along with the spirit is pulled back onto the meteoroid. The magic is used to fuel the meteoroid, so that we can come back the next time," Rachel explained, "As for your friend here it was pure luck that she was at the moon pool during the time that the meteoroid crashed. While she transformed into a mermaid, a part of my magic also influenced her and since then I was partially residing in her, taking her over, if I need to. It gave me two ways of attacking you with tentacles. Very convenient actually. I was able to mess with you so much better. Though my favorite thing was to steal your power during the new moon for the bit of time that it was up."

"So it was you that attacked us the whole time," Sarah accused and Rachel nodded, "I can't believe we really blamed Rachel for all that." All the girls felt terrible for accusing Rachel.

"You are just horrible. Taking out your anger on others. You are at fault to begin with. You should never have treated them like that," Emily reprimanded them.

"We won't let you take over this moon pool too. If we defeat you, then it's over for good. No one will ever be bothered by you again," Amber told Rachel angrily.

With a chuckle Rachel got up and said, "You think you can stop me. You must be delusional from your lack of power. Now that you know, I hope you can die in peace. I guess it's about time to end this tea party." Lightning fast she flung her arm out, sending her powers towards Amber, Sarah and Emily. They threw out their own magic and the two forces met in the middle, creating a strong wind, which send sand flying everywhere.

Very quickly Rachel's magic pushed the girls back and the power advantage was obvious. "Give up already. Don't die in shame," Rachel told them, but they all shook their heads, trying their hardest to keep their concentration and magic going, "Fine. Then die stupid. See if I care." Rachel send another burst of power, the sheer amount of it forcing the girls back. The cave walls dulled more and more, clearly showing that the girls were slowly reaching their already diminished limit.

"We can't keep this up," Emily said through her gritted teeth, "We need more power."

"We have nothing left," Sarah objected, weakly, trying to stay upright.

"We have to. Mako Island… Mako Island and Claire are counting on us," Amber retorted as strong as she could.

Suddenly the stones, that hung around the wrist of their attacking arm, began to glow, filling the entire volcano with a blue light, which spilled out of the opening, illuminating the night. "What's going on!" all four girls exclaimed as they were forced to close their eyes.

When Sarah, Emily and Amber opened their eyes, they were in black nothingness. "What the," Amber stammered, looking around, "What's going on here?"

"Emily, Sarah, Amber, the time has come," a voice rang through the darkness, which the girls recognized instantly.

"Claire? Where are you?" Sarah called out, searching for the origin of the voice.

"Right here," Claire smiled and suddenly not only Claire, but many more light figures appeared out of nowhere. They were all made of the moon like light. Each of the over 100 people wore different clothes, which placed them in a certain period of time all over the world. They all held hands with the exception of Claire and one other figure, who each still had a hand free and were next to the girls. Emily, Amber and Sarah stared in amazement at the sight that stretched before them as the figures of light illuminated the darkness.

"This is our gift from us to you. Take the bits of magic we still have. Save your moon pool," Claire told them as she reached out for them.

"But if we take that, won't you…," Emily began, but Claire interrupted, "It doesn't matter. Take it. You need it more than us. Stop the thing that we failed to." Sarah, Amber and Emily looked at each other and then grasped each others' hands. After that Sarah took Claire's hand while Amber took the other figures hand at the exact same time.

Instantly a bright, blue light flooded the darkness and the girls could power coming back to them. "Thank you. Thank you for everything," Amber, Emily and Sarah whispered before they were completely engulfed in the light.

Seconds later they were back in their own bodies and they could feel the meteoroid's power pushing down on them again. Immediately they send their acquired magic into their attack. "We won't let you down, Claire. We promise," Sarah muttered through her teeth.

"Oh, so that's the name of that spirit from Cairns. How stupid of her to think that she can change anything by interfering. I remember her. She lost her fight in no time, like everyone else," Rachel remembered with a smirk, no strain at all from the fight visible.

"Claire is not stupid. Without her we wouldn't be here now," Amber objected, though it was clear that none of them would last much longer.

"How smart can she be, if she believes that the puny bits of magic of the others will help you stop me? It won't be enough," she laughed.

"She's right. Our magic is almost completely gone," Emily gave in as she felt her knees slowly starting to buckle.

"Not to mention we'll hurt Rachel, if we do somehow win," Sarah pointed out, but suddenly she dropped to her knees, her strength at its limit, keeping her attack going though.

"Sarah!" Emily and Amber exclaimed, wanting to help their friend, but they had to keep their attack going. Mustering the bit of strength she had left, Sarah pushed herself up.

Suddenly Rachel shook her head and then said, "Don't worry about me." It was a girl's voice. The real Rachel.

"Rachel," the girls whispered, unsure.

"Get back in there, you miscreant. This is my body now," the meteoroid objected, annoyed.

"Wrong. This is still my body. Get out," Rachel demanded. The argument between the two body inhabitants seemed to weaken the attack and the girls' attack was able to push forward a bit.

"Like hell I'll listen to the likes of you," she laughed.

"Then I'll make you," Rachel snapped and then there was silence.

Suddenly Rachel's body began to shake and twitch. Sarah, Emily and Amber watched it with horror.

Then it stopped and Rachel lifted her head. "It's me," she said and it really was Rachel, "I got control of my body for a bit, but it won't last long. You have to finish this now. I can't stop the attack, but I can decrease it a bit. "

"But what about you?" Emily objected.

"Don't worry about me. Save the moon pool," Rachel replied.

"But…," Amber began, her tough exterior broken, but Rachel interrupted her, "No buts! I'm sorry for everything. Please believe me when I say that I never wanted this to happen. Now finish this. It's the only way to end this once and for all."

Rachel started to withdraw some of the strength of her attack and they watched as Sarah, Emily and Amber's attack inched forward. The girls only stared at her, shaking their heads only slightly in horror. They couldn't do it.

"Do it now!" Rachel yelled just as her body began to shake. As if Rachel's cry released something inside them, Sarah, Emily and Amber let loose all the energy they had left.

Rachel's attack was pushed back and then shattered. "No!" they could hear the meteoroid cry, just before the attack hit Rachel and an unearthly, but at the same time human scream filled the volcano.

Breathing hard the girls dropped to the ground, their legs no longer being able to carry them. "We did it," Sarah gasped in disbelief, "We're alive." She leaned against the wall, her eyes partially closed.

"You alright, Sarah?" Emily asked, worried, looking over to her friend.

"I'll be fine," the brunette replied, weakly. The girls exchanged a wiry smile.

"Thank you, Claire," Amber whispered, softly, looking at her bracelet.

Just then Emily looked up and exclaimed, "Rachel!" The brunette laid limply on the ground. Emily hurried ahead, while Amber helped Sarah up and they hurried as fast as they could to her side.

Emily grabbed Rachel's wrist and Sarah asked, "How is she?"

With a dark expression Emily turned to her friends and shook her head. With tears in her eyes Sarah hugged Amber for comfort, who hugged her back. "She has no pulse," Emily breathed, barely audible and joined the hug.

**A/N: **The girls have defeated their greatest enemy, but paid a heavy price. With Rachel and the meteoroid gone, how will the girls' lives go on? What about their family and friends? The final chapter, the epilog, of Next Generation Mermaid 2 is next. I'll try to update soon. Please review.

As for the summaries, if you're interested, here they are (warning: the stories are better, I just suck at summaries):

Next Generation Mermaid 3:

_A year after they first met, everything seems fine. Suddenly Sarah, Emily and Amber get visions of a girl. __Who is she? __At the same time strange attacks start to occur, not only directed at themselves, but normal people as well. What does it mean and is there a connection between the two?_

Switching Leads (Cleo, Emma and Rikki will play a role in this one):

_She never believed she was anything special, but on the day Rose meets the actress Lily, Rose's life changes completely. Now the shy girl must take on the lead in a film. On top of that a trip to Mako Island turns her into a mermaid. Can Rose keep her identity and her mermaid self a secret from the cast? Plus she has to figure out why she looks exactly like Lily and who she can trust._

What do you think? Please tell me which one you like better.


	19. Epilogue

**A****/N: This is the last chapter. I can't believe it. One last time a gigantic thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. I'm thrilled that this story was just as well received as the first. Thank you so much. I will write Next Generation Mermaids 3 next so keep an eye out for it, though I can't yet say when it will come out. Give me two months or so. Also R.I.P to all the victims of the Titanic. Hard to believe it has been a hundred years. Here's the last chapter. Enjoy!**

_Previously... The girls arrive at the moon pool to find out that Rachel is possessed by the meteoroid. It explains the reason for everything and then the showdown begins. Rachel is able to shortly regain control of her body and the others are able to defeat the meteoroid, but at what cost? Rachel is dead. Now on to the chapter. _

Epilogue

Sarah, Emily and Amber walked next to each other down a hall. They walked as close as possible next to them, as though it made them safer. In her hands Sarah held a bouquet of flowers. There was an awkward silence among them. Finally they stopped in front of a door. "Ready?" Emily asked, nervously, looking at her friends, who nodded. With that Emily opened the door.

Entering the room, they saw Rachel laying in a bed, hooked up to various machines. "Hey guys," Rachel smiled, seeing them. Rachel had bandages around several parts of her body, including her head.

The trio looked at her for a moment, unsure what to do, but finally Sarah broke the silence saying, "These are for you." She handed Rachel the flowers.

"Thank you," Rachel replied, placing the flowers on a table, "Would you mind putting them in a vase for me?" Sarah shook her head and quickly went to work.

Meanwhile there was an awkward silence between the other three. When Sarah was done, they just looked at each other.

Finally Amber mustered the courage to say, "We're sorry, Rachel."

"You're sorry. Why? This is all my fault," Rachel replied, "I attacked you."

"But you were being controlled. That's not your fault. We shouldn't have thought that you would harm us on purpose," Sarah objected.

"How could you have known that? You only met me after the full moon. That means you never met me without that thing inside my head, even though it only later took over," Rachel retorted, firmly.

"Okay, even if that is so, we almost killed you," Emily brought up.

"Stop it!" Rachel all but screamed, making the girls stare at her, before she continued in her normal voice, "I don't blame you nor should I blame myself. I forgive you for attacking me. I know it nearly killed me, but I wanted you to do it, remember? Had you not done it, the moon pool would be history now, as well as you."

"We nearly killed you. How can you forgive us? We were egoistic. We chose to chance killing you than something else," Sarah demanded, confused.

"If you hadn't killed me, the meteoroid would have. It was leeching my powers. Especially after it took over my body completely. I was doomed either way," Rachel retorted, "I was lucky though. Your attack killed it just in time. A fragment of my energy was still left through that, so I didn't die."

"Yeah, we thought you were dead, when we saw your body laying on the ground. Good thing that Emily is bad at feeling pulses," Amber smirked.

"Her pulse was practically non-existent," Emily justified with a scowl.

"What exactly happened after the attack? I remember getting hit, but then… nothing," Rachel asked.

"Well, like they just said, we thought you were dead," Sarah began.

_The girls felt safe in their embrace, almost as if the embrace could keep what had just happened away. "Why Rachel? You shouldn't have died. Not for us," Sarah sobbed. _

_"This couldn't have been the only way. There must have been another. It's not fair. We should be here together or not at all," Emily whispered, tears running down her face. _

_"I owe you more than I can ever repay you, Rachel. You truly are amazing," Amber admitted, which was the closest she would ever come to mourning, but still a lone tear rolled down her cheeks. _

_Suddenly a groan filled the moon pool. The girls looked over to Rachel's body. "Rachel," they muttered, softly. As if she was answering them, she groaned once more. _

_Swiftly Emily placed her ear to Rachel's mouth. She shot upright, her eyes wide. "She's breathing," Emily whispered, astonished, "But barely." _

_"We have to get her to a hospital quickly," Sarah said with now tears of joy in her eyes. _

_"Then lets get her in the water," Amber suggested. _

_"Don't. We don't know anything about Rachel's injuries. For all we know, we could make it much worse," Emily ordered, "No, we need to get her to land differently, but how?" _

_"I know. Do you have your cell phone with you?" Sarah asked. _

_"Yeah, why?" Emily replied. _

_"I know what you're planning. You want to carry Rachel out of here and then call a rescue squad, telling them that Rachel fell or something," Amber declared and Sarah nodded, confirming her guess, "That just might work. Help me." They each got a hold of Rachel and together hauled her up. It took all of the little strength they had to get Rachel out of the cave and onto the riverbed, which laid just above it. _

_Exhausted they collapsed next to Rachel, after they had placed her safely down. "Call them. We can't lose another minute," Sarah told Emily, who nodded. _

_She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed the number. "Hello. My name is Emily. My friends and I were hiking at Mako Island, when one of us fell. She's unconscious and barely breathing. Please hurry," Emily reported and listened to the reply, "Yes, I know Mako Island is dangerous. Just hurry, please." With that she hung up. "I can't believe that operator has the nerve to lecture me when someone is injured," she scowled. _

_"Well, I can't say it's normal to hike here," Amber retorted. _

_"Lets just hope this stays out of the press," Sarah said and the others nodded. Soon they heard the sound of the helicopter and then it landed._

"That's what happened," Emily ended the recollection.

"I really do owe you my life. Thank you," Rachel said.

"I think we've established that we both owe each other our lives. How about we call it even?" Amber suggested, though she said it mostly so that she didn't have to owe anyone anything.

"Agreed," Rachel smiled, "Did you get into a lot of trouble?"

"We got reprimanded about hiking on Mako and our cover was nearly blown, because they hadn't seen a boat with which we came. We told them that someone had dropped us off and then left again," Sarah explained. "Smart thinking," Rachel complimented them.

"Rachel, can I ask you something?" Emily asked and the girl nodded, "Why did you go to Mako in the first place? Didn't you know what was waiting for you?"

"I knew. I knew very well. Remember those memory lapses that I was having? They happened because the meteoroid took control over me. I didn't think of anything of it until the day Amber ran away. When I was searching the moon pool, I felt like I was being watched. That was the first time that I felt the meteoroid, though it was unwillingly. The first time I truly noticed the meteoroid was when you did, when you saw me with the tentacle. It started to talk to me. Telling me that whatever I did, it would make no difference. I decided that it would be best to stay away as far as possible from you to keep you safe," Rachel explained.

"But why didn't you tell us? We could have tried to help," Sarah protested.

"You know as well as me that the meteoroid would have killed us all the second I tried. Not to mention I didn't know how. The meteoroid could take me over whenever it wanted and then all I could do was watch as my body moved on its own. Internally I would be screaming, pleading, but it was no use," Rachel told them, the memories haunting her.

The girls stared at her, not sure what to do. "Well, it's over now and we're all safe," Amber said, trying to move on, "Though we met an even scarier opponent just after our battle." Rachel arched a brow confused as Emily and Sarah nodded in unison. To satisfy their friend's curiosity they began.

"_The paramedics said that the earliest that they would be able to tell if she lives is this afternoon," Emily told her friends as they walked along the beach. It was now noon. _

_"I suggest we go to the beach house and rest for a few hours," Amber suggested, "Had the helicopter not been so small they would have taken us to the hospital too." _

_"Does it surprise you? We barely survived," Sarah asked as they came up to the house, "I agree. We can't exactly go home looking like this. Not to mention that the swim back to shore took too much of my remaining energy for me to make it home." _

"_Speaking of home, what do we tell our parents why we acted like that?" Emily questioned, thoughtfully. _

_"Good question. We can hardly go back home and act like it never happened," Sarah agreed as she opened the door and they went inside. _

_"But we can't tell them what really happened," Amber pointed out. _

"_And what exactly happened?" a voice asked out of the darkness, shortly before the light was switched on to reveal not only their mothers, but their boyfriends as well. The girls stared at them, who all seemed very cross with their arms crossed. Before anyone could say anything, Sarah's legs gave way, but luckily Emily and Amber were able to catch her before she hit the ground. "Sarah!" everyone exclaimed as they crowded around her. _

_"Listen, we'll explain, but can we first sit down?" Emily asked and the others nodded. Ryan helped Sarah to the couch, while Jordan and Daniel escorted their respective girlfriend, noticing that they were also exhausted. _

_Finally everyone was settled down and Sarah had to know, "What are you even doing here?" _

_"That should be our question. After what you did yesterday, do you honestly think we didn't know something was up?" Rikki retorted, angrily. The girls shrunk back, a bit intimidated. _

_"Obviously we talked to each other after you left and when we found out that you had all been acting weird, we asked the only other people, who could know anything," Emma continued, calmer than her friend, and her eyes wandered over to the boys. _

_"I can't believe you didn't tell us that you were being effected by the new moon, nor that you were losing your powers. We told you to come to us, if you had problems," Cleo chided them, more out of concern than anger. _

_The girls looked at their boyfriends. "You told them?" Amber demanded, slightly angry. _

_"You try standing up to three mothers. It's not that simple," Jordan protested and the girls had to agree with them. Especially if that mother was one Rikki Bennett. _

_"We're sorry. We thought that we should try to solve problems on our own. We can't rely on you for everything and we have to find our own way," Emily explained. _

"_I can understand that, but what was that yesterday?" Emma replied. _

_"We didn't want to tell you this, but it was… it was our good bye," Sarah whispered, softly. _

_"Goodbye? Why?" Ryan asked, dreading the answer. _

_"We thought we were going to die," Amber ended, carefully. _

_"Die!" everyone exclaimed, horrified. Even Rikki looked worried now. _

_"What happened?" Cleo questioned. _

_"How much do they know?" Emily inquired. _

_"We told them everything we know," Daniel answered and the girls began their tale of what had happened until then._

_By the end of their story, everyone was silent, Cleo and Emma even had tears in their eyes. They all hugged the mermaids. "How could you not tell us? What if you had died?" Rikki asked, softly. _

_"We're so sorry," Amber whispered. _

_"Don't ever do something like that again. Promise," Cleo told them and the mermaids nodded. _

_"We promise," the girls chorused, tiredly. _

_"You have to understand though that we never wanted to die, but the situation left very little other options. We couldn't just give up on Rachel or our moon pool," Emily retorted, "You out of everyone else should understand us." _

_"We do understand. We just think that there would have been a better solution," Emma replied. _

_"There wasn't one and if it happened again, we would do it like that again," Amber objected and the other two daughters nodded. _

_They waited for some stern words, but they never came. Instead a smile spread across Rikki's face and she said, "We really raised them well, didn't we? They are just like us." Cleo and Emma nodded in agreement._

_"But never ever keep anything from us again. Not from us or them. We all care too much about you to not know," Emma reprimanded them. The girls nodded, which got them each a kiss from their boyfriend.  
_

"_Do you know how Rachel is doing?" Cleo asked, bringing them back to the seriousness of the situation. _

_Sarah shook her head, replying, "The paramedics weren't able to say anything about her condition. As of right now it could go either way. She could live or…" She didn't dare speak out the other possibility. _

_"They said they would know this afternoon," Emily went on. "_

_Don't worry. I'm sure Rachel will be alright. She's strong," Ryan tried to assure them and the mothers nodded in agreement. _

_"She'll survive. Rachel was able to overcome the meteoroid so she'll definitely be able to come out of this," Emma added and finally the girls gave a slight nod._

"_So what do we do until they know if she'll be alright?" Jordan asked. _

_"I suggest you three get some sleep. You look like the walking dead," Cleo said and the girls gave a sheepish nod. Snuggling up to their boyfriends, the girls tried to fall asleep. The others meanwhile read a book or went after their own thoughts, as well as that worked, since everyone was worried. At some point everyone fell asleep._

_The ringing of a phone yanked them all out of their dreams. They looked around for the source of the sound. It was Emily's phone, which she answered. It was the hospital, everyone knew that. With baited breath the others watched Emily for a hint of how Rachel was doing, but her face stayed a mask. Finally Emily ended the call and she just sat there. "Well?" Sarah asked with dread. _

_"Rachel… Rachel," Emily stammered, sure, but then she broke out into a smile and told them, "Will live." A cheer and sighs of relief went through everyone, interrupting the blonde. When everyone quieted down, Emily continued, "Though she hasn't regained consciousness, the doctors say it'll happen throughout the night. They say we can visit her tomorrow." _

"_That's great," Emma smiled, but then her eyes went to the clock, "I think it's about time for us to leave. We'll tell your dads everything." The girls nodded and with that everyone dispersed. _

_Outside Rikki said, "I'm really glad Zane is on a business trip. It gives him a bit of time to cool down after I tell him on the phone. He won't be happy, but he'll be glad that they're alright." _

_"Ash will probably be more worried than anything else," Emily replied. _

_"Lewis actually realized that it had something to do with mermaids. He said something along those lines last night, though I'm not sure how he'll take this," Cleo told them, "Well, since they're still at work, it gives us time to think about how we'll tell them."_

"How did your dads take it?" Rachel asked.

"Pretty well, considering," Amber replied, "As expected none of them were pleased and my father even threw a fit, but they were all glad in the end that we were alright."

"That reminds me. They all want you to get well soon," Sarah added.

"You're really lucky to have such understanding families," Rachel smiled and the others nodded.

"How long will you still be here?" Emily asked.

"The doctors aren't sure what happened to me. No wonder there, but I can hardly tell them the truth. However they are going to release me tomorrow," Rachel answered.

"Say, how about once you get out of here we go for a swim?" Amber suggested.

"Definitely," Rachel smiled, "Could you get me a glass of water?" Sarah nodded and appeared shortly later with the wished object. She handed it to Rachel, but it slipped out of her hand, landing on Rachel.

Wide eyed they looked at each other, knowing it would be impossible to dry it all in ten seconds. They waited for the inevitable, but nothing happened. Rachel stared down at her wet arm. "Why?" she whispered, meekly and very confused.

"How is that possible?" Emily asked, perplexed.

"Don't tell me…," Rachel began, softly.

"What is it?" Amber questioned.

"I'm not sure, but I guess that the meteoroid leeched so much of my power, that it couldn't be replenished and so I have lost my abilities as a mermaid," Rachel explained in disbelief and then added in a hushed voice, "I'm no longer a mermaid."

"Rachel," they three mermaids whispered, sympathetically, "We're so sorry. This is all our fault."

"Don't say that. You are not at fault," Rachel retorted, firmly.

"But still. This is so unfair. Why do you have to sacrifice everything, while we get to keep ours?" Sarah asked.

"It can't be changed. I've only been a mermaid for a while, but it hasn't exactly been a grand time. Maybe it's better this way. I won't have to lie to anyone anymore," Rachel answered with a bitter-sweet smile. Sarah, Amber and Emily wanted to object, but they knew that Rachel wouldn't change her mind.

They just stood there in silence for a while. Finally Amber nudged Emily, wanting her to continue. "Right," Emily said, "We have something for you." Out of her bag, Emily pulled a necklace. It was a leather band, on which the three blue stones from Claire hung.

Rachel stared at it with wide eyes. "I know it seems kind of strange to give it to you now that you are no longer… Anyway we wanted to give you a necklace like ours, but we thought this would be better. That way you will always have a part of us with you," Sarah explained.

"It's beautiful, you guys, but I can't expect this," Rachel objected, "Those are yours. Don't they mean a lot to you?"

"It's alright. We want you to have them. The attack left them dry," Emily retorted, "Besides I think the old owner would want you to have it."

Rachel's eyes wandered to Amber, who just said, "Take it already."

With a smile Rachel finally gave in, "Okay, thank you. I love it."

"We should let you rest now. We'll come visit again tomorrow," Sarah told her and after good byes were exchanged, the three mermaids left. Outside they just stood there for a moment, not able to comprehend the fact that Rachel had lost her powers.

Just then Alex walked up to them. "Hey girls," he greeted them and they smiled back.

"Alex, you sure got here quickly," Emily observed.

"I left as soon as I could," he replied. They had written him an sms when they found out that Rachel would be alright.

"You still had time to buy flowers," Amber teased playfully, seeing the bouquet in his hands. Alex simply shrugged, though he was clearly blushing.

"Don't be mean, Amber," Emily replied, "I think it's very thoughtful."

"Thanks," Alex said and then passed them, resting a hand on the doorknob, "I want to thank you. You found her. I don't know how and I don't want to know, I'm just really glad she's back, safe and sound." He said all that with his back to them. The girls exchanged a smile and then walked off.

With that Alex entered the room and when he saw Rachel a smile spread across his face. "Alex," Rachel whispered.

"Hey Rachel. How are you…?" he began, but stopped when he saw tears streaming down her face, "What's wrong? Are you in pain? Should I call a doctor?" Rachel only shook her head as the tears kept coming. Not sure what else to do, Alex sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her to his chest. Rachel clawed herself into his shirt, crying, while Alex held her, stroking her back.

It took a long time for Rachel to stop crying. When she finally stopped, her eyes were red and puffy. "You want to talk about it?" Alex asked, carefully, but Rachel just shook her head. They just sat there in silence next to each other and even though Alex didn't know it, his presence comforted Rachel more than he could ever know.

* * *

The next day Rachel was just filling out the form for her release, when Alex suddenly stood next to her. "You feeling better?" he questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for yesterday," Rachel replied, slightly uncomfortable, "What are you doing here?"

"Just follow me and you'll see," Alex told her and stretched out his hand.

"I don't know," Rachel began, meekly, but Alex interrupted, "Just come. I promise you won't regret it." With a sigh and knowing that Alex wouldn't leave her alone, she took his hand and led herself be guided.

A while later they were at the beach. "The ocean?" Rachel asked, looking at Alex confused.

"Whenever something wasn't right, you would go to the beach and just stare at the ocean or go swimming for hours on end," Alex explained as he walked towards the waves, "Come on."

"You really do know everything about me," Rachel said with the touch of a smile on her lips.

"I would hope so. I've been your friend for a long time now," he replied, casually, letting his feet bath in the water. Alex smiled at her.

Whether it was just because of the scene of seeing Alex standing in the water, coaxing her, that made her heart skip a beat or something else entirely, Rachel didn't know, but either way her body took several careful steps.

Rachel stopped just short of the water, so that she was barely out of reach. She stared at it, almost intimidated. "Come on," Alex said with a smile, reaching his hand out. Rachel stared at it as though it were poisonous. What if for some bizarre reason she did transform? Should she be happy then or horrified, that her secret was revealed? She loved Alex, yes, but could their relationship withstand that?

They stood like that for several second until finally Rachel carefully took his hand and then stepped into the water. She waited, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, almost praying that she would transform, but nothing happened. Sad she walked further in until she was in up to her hips.

Rachel let herself drop into the water, submerging completely. There she curled into a ball. If it were possible to see tears in the water, she would be sure she was crying right now. It was really over. She would never be a mermaid again. Looking down at her necklace, she thought that it seemed to admit a soft glow or was it just the sunlight reflecting of it?

Before Rachel could keep wondering, a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her above water. Confused she stared at Alex, who held her. "What's wrong?" she asked, perplexed.

"What's wrong? You were underwater for over two minutes. I thought you had passed out or something," he replied, brought up. Two minutes? That wasn't possible. She had felt like she could have stayed underwater for a lot longer. Then it dawned on her and slowly Rachel stared down at her necklace. Was it possible?

"Hold this," Rachel told Alex and handed him the necklace. Before a confused Alex could ask anything, she was underwater again. Slowly Rachel counted the seconds. After about 30 seconds she stared to feel the need to breath and came back up, gasping. Rachel couldn't stop staring at the necklace.

"What was that all about?" Alex demanded to know.

Her eyes drifted to his and then she asked, "Would you believe me, if I told you something really crazy?"

"I'll always believe you, no matter what," Alex replied, sensing the seriousness in her voice. Rachel took his hand and led him to a pair of boulders, on which they took a seat.

With a deep breath she began, "I was a mermaid."

"A mermaid. A real one?" he asked and Rachel nodded, "Wait, did you say was?"

Again Rachel nodded, replying, "Through several events I lost them again."

"Then Amber, Sarah and Emily are mermaids too?" Alex asked, making Rachel stare at him, astonished.

"How do you know that? Did they tell you?" she questioned, shocked.

"I know you, Rachel. I don't need for them to tell me. I saw you four together and just knew that there was something special between you," Alex explained, calmly, "That's why I asked them to find you for me, when you disappeared. I knew they were the only ones who could help you."

"You really are amazing," she smiled, sweetly, "You're right. They are mermaids and they were the only ones who could save me." With that Rachel started her story. Not once did Alex interrupt her.

By the time the story was finished, Rachel was in Alex's arms, though she couldn't say for sure when she had gotten there. "So that's why you were crying yesterday. Because of your powers," Alex concluded, softly.

"Yes. Even though I only had them for while and not the best of memories with them, they still grow on you," Rachel told him.

"And what was that all about just now?" he asked.

Her hand subconsciously found her necklace as she answered, "Amber, Sarah and Emily gave this necklace to me. It seems to have some magic in it, which gives me a few of the abilities that I once had. Unknowingly they gave me the greatest present of all."

"You have to tell them right away," Alex told her.

"That's the plan," Rachel said, "But before that I have to thank you. You stayed with me through everything. You never left my side, no matter how weird I was acting."

"Of course, I'll never leave you. I never left you as a kid and I won't leave you now. Not ever," Alex told her, "I love you, Rachel."

"I love you too," Rachel replied and they shared a kiss. Then she got out her phone.

* * *

Meanwhile Sarah, Amber and Emily were swimming. Underneath them a wide spectrum of underwater life spread out before them. The Great Barrier Reef really was breathtaking. Though they had swum in it once before, it had been dark and an eminent danger had threatened them. Only now that everything was resolved, they realized the true beauty of the place. Corrals in the most diverse colors and the most exotic fish and plants greeted them. They couldn't help but smile, even though the real purpose of their visit was not so pleasant.

Finally they reached their destination. The moon pool of Cairns. Surfacing they immediately noticed the change from the last time they had been there. There was no life. None at all. "Claire really is gone," Sarah whispered as they got out of the water.

"We knew it from the moment that we took her and the other mermaids' magic. The only reason they were still in this world was because of their magic. Taking that, we take there existence," Emily explained.

"No," Sarah objected, firmly, "I don't think we took their existence. By doing that we finally set them free. They can finally be at ease and leave."

"You see this Claire?" Amber called into the cave, "We're here. We defeated the meteoroid for you. It won't harm anyone anymore and it's all thanks to you. So go rest in peace. We'll take care of everything from here."

"I think it reached her," Sarah smiled.

"How do you know that?" Emily asked, looking at the brunette.

"Because Claire is in all of us. She gave us her magic and thus she is in us. We will forever be linked to her and with each other," Sarah explained as she picked up a rock. With it she started to carve something into the wall.

Just then Emily's phone rang. Emily frowned, looking at it. "It's a message from Rachel. She wants to meet us at Mako," she told the others.

"What could she possibly want?" Sarah wondered, stepping back to admire her handwork, "Done."

"Don't you you mean how did she get there to begin with? She isn't a mermaid anymore," Amber pointed out and then looked at Sarah's work, "Looks good."

"I guess we'll just have to go and see, won't we," Emily replied, glancing at the wall, "Perfect." With that the girls stepped back towards the pool.

"Farewell Claire. Thanks for everything," they said one last time before diving into the water and zooming off. They soon left the moon pool behind and with it the engraving on the wall, "In memory to Claire, the brightest soul of them all."

A while later Emily, Sarah and Amber resurfaced in their own moon pool, where Rachel was already awaiting them. "Rachel, what's so urgent?" Emily asked as they got out of the moon pool.

"I have to thank you," the brunette replied.

"Thank us for what?" Amber inquired, confused.

"This," Rachel only answered and made a tentacle of water rise up, using magic.

The mermaids stared at their believed to be human friend. "So you got your powers back!" Sarah exclaimed, astonished.

"Sadly, no," Rachel replied, letting the water drop again and held up the necklace, "It's because of this. It has magic in it, which I'm able to use. You did say it was a storage for magic, right?" The mermaids nodded. "It still has some magic in it. Granted it's a lot less than I once had and I can't transform into a mermaid with it, but I'm able to hold my breath for a long time and manipulate the water a bit. However only if I wear the necklace. Either way I have to thank you. This is the best thing I could ask for," she ended.

"So you can use a bit of your powers?" the girls stammered and then exclaimed, "That's great!" They hugged each other, ecstatic.

"How did you get here anyway?" Emily questioned, when they finally broke apart.

"Boat. How else do normal humans cross the ocean?" Rachel replied.

"Speaking of ocean, how about that swim now?" Amber asked, waling towards the moon pool, reaching her hand out. Emily and Sarah followed suite.

Rachel stared at them, but then a smile crossed her face. "I'm in," Rachel smiled and took Amber and Sarah's hand. Together they dove into the pool. Rachel smiled at her friends as they pulled her behind them. This would be the closest she would ever again get towards swimming as a mermaid, but she was fine with that. The girls exchanged smiles. After all the events that had happened, finally they could enjoy themselves. Everything was perfect.

_The End_

**A****/N: **That's all she wrote. This is the end. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. For the last time in this story, please review. Hope you will continue to read my stories and that I'll see you again in the third installment. Until then.


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